Angels
by Myra the Sark
Summary: "Nevermore" has nothing to do with this. A god decides that Angel is needed more in a different world, erases her memories, and sends her there—still with her wings and mind powers. But can she help the Five fulfill their destiny? Or will she just get in the way? In slow progress.
1. Prologue

**Angel's POV**

Angel opened her eyes. Her head hurt—she remembered the explosion…and that was it. _Am I dead?_ She couldn't feel any other thoughts around her, and her surroundings were all misty. "Hello?" she called. No answer came, but she suddenly sensed…something. Whatever it was, it was _old_—not like a typical grandmother or grandfather, but _older_. Way old. Ancient. Then she saw it.

It looked kind of like a dog—a wolf, maybe?—and it was a pretty silver color. And it had _wings_, wings like hers. The wolf blinked its pretty silver eyes at her, and _said_, "I have a proposition for you, Angel."

"What is it?" Angel's voice was surprisingly calm, despite her feeling scared. The wolf tilted its—her—head to the side.

"I'm afraid your time in that world is over. But there is another that needs you now." She looked up. "I am afraid you cannot keep any memories of the life you once lived, or your abilities besides your telepathy, though you will still have your wings. You will also retain your name. Is that alright?"

Angel was aghast. She wouldn't remember the flock? Not even Max or Gazzy? But…a bit before the explosion, her Voice had said that she would need to give up everything soon. She figured that _soon_ was _now_. "O-Okay," she said, holding back tears.

The wolf started glowing, and then Angel knew nothing.

* * *

**Chase's POV**

Seven-year-old Chase Suno didn't know how the girl got there. All he knew was that she was lying unconscious on his bedroom floor. He went down, and poked her shoulder gently a few times. "Uhm," she mumbled, lifting her head a bit. She had curly blond hair and blue eyes, though her eyes looked hazy. She was wearing a cream-colored shirt, and was wearing jean-skirts. She looked at him, blinking.

"Who are you?" Chase asked.

The girl sat up, looking at him confusedly. She looked around. "Where am I?" she asked.

"My room."

Now she looked at him. "What's your name?"

"Um…Chase."

"My name's Angel."

At that moment, Chase's dad happened to come into the room. "Chase, who are you talking to—" He stopped when he saw Angel.

"Dad, dad! This is Angel," Chase said. "I dunno where she came from, but can she stay here?"

Jeredy looked put-off. "Chase, we'll need to find her parents. You know that."

Angel frowned, looking puzzled. "I…I don't know who my parents are," she said slowly. "Actually…all I know is that I woke up here."

Chase looked at Angel, then at his dad. His dad looked surprised, then said, "Don't worry, Angel," while patting her back. "We'll find your parents." He then got a puzzled look. "What's…? Angle, what's this on your back?"

Angel looked at him, and then said, "My wings." Chase saw something move near her back—_on_ her back, more precisely—and saw a pair of pure-white wings.

* * *

**Jeredy's POV**

Although he tried, even on the Internet, Jeredy could not find anyone looking for a blond-haired blue-eyed little girl. It was if she had appeared out of nowhere. _I guess we will be adopting her, then,_ Jeredy thought. _Her and Chase get along fine,_ he added mentally as he observed the two playing. _But…how in the world does she have wings?_ Angel looked puzzled, and then looked at him solemnly.

"I don't know why I have wings," she said.

"But…I didn't…"

"Oh, right," she said. "I can read minds, you know."

Yet another mystery.


	2. Arc I: Clash, Part I

_**Eight Years Later**_

"Chase?"

"Gah!" The said teen's eyes snapped open, to see his two friends and sister hanging over him.

"Chase?" Angel said again, blinking. "Did you have another nightmare?" She could tell from his thoughts that he had.

"Don't worry," Jinja reassured. "It was only a dream."

"Yeah," Bren put in. "Maybe it was something you ate."

"I doubt that. We haven't eaten anything but trail-mix for eight days."

"I second that emotion! One more day of that and I'm gonna barf. But soon we'll be at you guys' dad's lab. I bet he has some actual food there!"

"All you ever talk about is food, Bren," Angel said, rolling her eyes.

"Coming from someone who ate three omelets in one sitting?"

"You _know _I need way more calories per day than you!"

Bren then decided to get back on subject. "Well, it's not like we know your dad's there. We've been all over the place. I mean, he wasn't at the last three labs. If he wasn't at one yesterday, why would he be at one tomorrow? I mean, anything could've happened to him—"

"Bren!" Jinja shouted.

"Huh? Oh! Uh, Chase, Angel, I…I'm sorr—I um—"

"It's okay B," Chase said quietly.

"Like you said," Angel put in, picking up on her foster-brother's thoughts. "We don't know anything. Our dad—he's never been the type to call a lot…or at all for that matter."

"But he always let us know where he was," Chase added. "And that he was okay. This isn't like him—Bren's right, Jin. We don't know what happened to him. For all we know—

"No, Bren _is not_ right," Jinja interjected. "Bren's just letting his stomach make him more neurotic than usual."

"Exactly," the glasses-wearing boy said. There was a pause. Then: "Hey!"

"We'll get there tomorrow. Your father will be there, and we'll have been worried for nothing. Let's get some sleep."

And that's what they did…at least for the others. Angel couldn't sleep one wink. "Chase?" she whispered. He turned over.

"What's up, Ang?" he asked.

"What do you think happened to dad?"

He was silent. Then: "Dunno. But we'll get to the bottom of it if it's the last thing I do. I promise."

She smiled. "G'night, then."

"Night."

* * *

Bright and early the next morning, they all stood at the edge of a cliff. The lab was visible below. "And how are we supposed to get _down there_?" Jinja asked.

"Well…I could fly us down one-by-one…" Angel mused.

"Angel, remember the last time you tried flying me down somewhere?" Chase said. "You fell too fast, and got a broken leg."

"That was three years ago."

"Still."

"Well, I don't see any stairs," Bren said, leaning over the edge of the cliff. "Hmm…" At that moment he lost his balance. "Wha-whoa!"

"Bren!" the other three exclaimed. Jinja grabbed his right arm, Chase grabbed his left, and Angel grabbed his shoulders. Luckily that stopped him.

"Phew…that was close."

_Why do I feel like he jinxed us?_

And jinx them he did, sadly. There was a loud cracking sound, and the whole ledge crumbled beneath them. Instinctively Angel whipped her white wings out—all thirteen feet of them—and beat them rapidly. However, it did nothing to help the others. She winced when she heard them crash below, and flew down.

"Well that was pleasant," Jinja said sarcastically.

"Watch that first step—it's a killer," Chase agreed.

"Lab dead-ahead!" Angel called, landing and folding her wings in. The moss-covered building was right in front of them, practically.

Strangely, the door was open.

"Uh, do you guys think that your dad left the door open because he was expecting us?" Bren asked Chase and Angel.

The two Sunos said nothing, instead walking slowly into the building. Inside was a complete mess. "Dad?" Chase called.

"Are you here?" Angel called.

"Dr. Suno?" Jinja called.

Bren simply stuck close to them, whimpering. "Must be the cleaning lady's day off," he noted. When they came to the main room, Angel tried pressing a button—and the lights came on.

"Well, the electricity's still on," Jinja said.

But it only showed more of a mess. Chase looked around. "He's not here," he said quietly, glumly.

"But somebody was," Angel stated grimly. "It looks like…like they were searching for something."

"Maybe we better go…" Chase said. "This…doesn't feel right."

They turned to leave, just as a voice called out. "Chase? Angel?" They turned. There was a blond-haired man with a scar on his forehead there, wearing a black suit. Angel couldn't believe it. She took a hesitant step forward, while Chase took a few steps forward. "It's me," the man continued. "Jon Ace. I don't know if either of you remember…"

"Of course—" Chase started.

"We remember you," Angel continued. "He used to—"

"—work with our dad."

"And he still works with STORM by the look of his uniform," Jinja growled.

Jon Ace paid no attention, though he said, "I see you two are still finishing each other's sentences. I'll never get how you do that."

Chase said, "Do you know where our dad is?"

"No," Jon admitted. "But I wish I did. You see, we—I've been looking for him too. His disappearance was so sudden, but your father—he's a survivor. I'm sure he's alright…wherever he is." He paused, then added, "Chase, Angel, there is one thing—or two things, actually—that might help us find him. He left two things—for you two."

"For us?" Angel asked. She and Chase went over to where Jon was standing, and saw a door with the Core-Tech symbol on it.

"It's a biometric safe," Jon explained. "I had my men do scans of the programming. Whatever's inside is set to detonate in a fireball of three-thousand degrees Celsius if we even so much as _look_ at it wrong. It's set for your handprints."

Sure enough, there were two black pads on the sides of the door. Chase walked up to the left one, Angel to the right. They each placed a hand on the pad at the same time. The pads glowed briefly, and an automated voice said, "_Thank you, Chase and Angel Suno. I've been waiting for both of you._" As the computer spoke, the doors opened. "_The contents of this safe have been left here for you both by your father, Dr. Jeredy Suno._" Inside was a stand with two small cylindrical devices that glowed a neon blue. "_Passcode: For every dark, a light; for every foe, a friend; for every lock, a key._" They entered slowly. The two objects were practically begging them to take one. So they did. As soon as they did, the cylinders glowed brighter briefly, before the glow faded.

"Sweet!" Bren said, running in. "the new Core-Tablet your dad's company made!" He picked the said object up, turning it on. "Core-Tech stuff is always the best! Ooh, and it's got holographic projection! I _so_ wanted one of these for Christmas!"

"Easy on the geeksplosion there, Bren," Jinja said. Bren laughed.

Angel then went stiff. _Wait…we're not alone!_ Right as a harsh voice yelled, "Hold it right there, Sunos!" Before they could even move, a bunch of STORM soldiers practically came out of nowhere. One stepped forward, a man with black hair and very-dark-blue eyes. "This base is surrounded by STORM forces," he said smugly. "You're completely surrounded. Hand over the cores, and hand them over _now_."

Jon apparently didn't expect this. "Trey, this isn't necessary."

"You did your job, Ace," "Trey" said. "You got 'em to open the safe. But this is my mission and my rules. The kids hand over the cores, or I take it from them by force."

"Slow down! Give the kids a chance!"

"They had their moment. We need those cores!" He stepped forward. "If they're the ones from Dr. Suno's files, we need to have them! Those Monsunos are the lynchpins!" Turning to the soldiers, he ordered, "Surround them! Whatever you do, don't let _either_ of them spin a core out!"

The soldiers followed their orders unquestioningly. Almost like robots. "Our dad…left these for us," Chase whispered. Angel nodded.

"Hands in the air!" one soldier barked.

They did as such, while Bren shouted pathetically, "Please don't shoot me!" over and over again. They slowly walked out of the small room and into the main one.

"What do you think he meant by 'don't let them spin one out'?" Angel asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"You and your brother are something else, Angel Suno," Jinja said.

Chase positioned the core in his hand, as did Angel. "Don't even think about it, kids!" Trey yelled. Both Chase and Angel broke away from the other two.

"Chase, Angel!" Jinja yelled.

"Take 'em down!" Trey ordered. Once they were at the wall, both of them whipped around, raising the cores. "Stop them!" Trey shouted, but it was too late.

They threw the cores. Both went spinning toward the other wall, glowing brighter as they went. Things seemed to slow down, and then there were two of the slightest _clang_s. The light grew to a degree where they had to shield their eyes—Angel having to look away due to her enhanced eyesight. The first thing Angel noticed different were that there were two other thought presences in her thought-awareness sense. When it cleared…she couldn't believe her eyes.

There was a large, white, polar-bear-looking creature that had large crystals growing from its back, arms, legs, and claws. It had glowing blue eyes.

Beside it was a bird-like creature that looked like a cross between a swan and an eagle, with four wings with some crystal plating, lethal-looking talons, an orange tail with a diamond-shaped tip, and also had glowing blue eyes.

The polar-bear roared, while the swan screeched. Bren was covering his head, Jinja looked downright astonished, and the STORM troops looked a bit unnerved, if not angry. Chase was on the ground, stunned. Angel just stared.

The bear threw two soldiers against a wall, while the swan slapped four others with a wing. A few unlucky soldiers attempted to tase the bear, to no avail. All it did was make both the bear and the swan mad.

"Go!" Chase yelled at Bren, Jinja, and Angel. They started running.

"Stop those things!" Trey said. "Take 'em down now!" Some soldiers took aim with larger guns and shot, but again, no avail. The bear growled and the swan hissed. "Again!"

Meanwhile, the four friends were still running. An explosion tripped them up, and Chase's core bounced away. He stood to go for it, only to be knocked out of the way of a falling vent by Jinja.

"Leave it!" she shouted at him. They ran a bit more, and then hid behind a wall.

"Sorry we got you guys into this mess," Chase said.

"I forgive you," Jinja said. "As long as you find a way to get us out of here _alive_!"

"I'm working on it."

Another explosion made them wince, and Bren worriedly repeated, "This is not happening, this is not happening…! Monsters don't exist, monsters don't exist!"

Right as the bear was knocked into the hallway.

They all crammed against the end of the hall. The bear leaped forward—revealing a hole in the wall. "Exit!" Angel shouted. They ran for it.

Jon Ace happened to see them. Both Suno kids stopped briefly to look, and then continued. The bear and the swan also looked back, and then back at the STORM soldiers.

He then saw something crucial. "Gas leak! Everyone out, _NOW!_"

The STORM soldiers all fled the buildings…

The bear stepped on one of the canisters…

And the whole building went up in smoke.

The four friends all tripped, the force of the explosion making the ground tremble. They watched the smoke rise briefly, and Chase said, "Well, when I throw a party, it's always a blast."

"Chase Suno, what have you and your sister done!" Jinja scolded.

Chase put his hands up in defense. "No clue!"

Angel added, "I think we let some crazy monsters loose, or something…" She trailed off, staring.

"AW CRAG!" she and Chase shouted at the same time.

"What?" Bren said. Both Sunos pointed, and the other two turned to see—

The bear running toward them, the swan flying right behind it.

"Run for it!" Chase shouted—only to see that Bren and Jinja had already high-tailed it, and Angel had high-winged it.

They kept running/flying until Angel noted that her brother and friends were starting to look very tired. She landed in a clearing that they ran into, all dropping to their knees to catch their breaths. "I…think we lost them," Chase said between pants.

"UM…don't think so," Bren said in a weird tone. Chase looked in front of him—to see the bear looking at him. The swan landed close to it, though its focus was on Angel. "Ch-Chase?"

"I-if he wants to tear me to pieces," Chase stammered, "I don't think we can stop him."

The bear lowered its head—and dropped the core that Chase had left.

"He—he wanted to give me this," Chase whispered, picking it up. It glew brightly for an instant. Angel blinked, and took hers out from her pocket. The same thing happened. She felt a strange sensation come over her briefly, but it was gone as soon as it had come. She looked up at the swan. It looked back at her.

"Whoa, tense," Chase said.

A freak-out happened when the bear picked Chase up and put it on its shoulder. Angel looked at the swan as it lowered one wing, as if asking her to get on. She blinked, then grinned, and looked back at Bren and Jinja, who were staring. "Well?" she asked. "All aboard!"


	3. Arc I: Clash, Part II

Night had fallen. "Jinja, you don't know how to work it!" Bren shouted.

"I do so know how to work it!" she yelled back.

Angel rolled her eyes. She looked at the swan. It looked tired—its thoughts sounded tired, too. "I think he's tired," Chase commented, looking at the bear.

"Well maybe if Mr. scaredy-cat here hadn't used the Core-Tablet to block a laser round—" Jinja said, ignoring what he had said.

"That is so not true!" Bren defended. "I didn't block laser rounds with it! I fell one it."

"Play nice, you two!" Angel scolded. "We have no idea what's going on. And Bren, Jinja's good with that kind of stuff."

In response, Bren let go. She turned it on. Angel became aware that Jinja was very confused. "Um, it's working, but…" Jinja muttered. "But it looks like it's all in code."

Bren proceeded to grab the Core-Tablet. "Now you're playing in my ballpark. Leave it to the master." He chuckled to himself. Jinja looked like she wanted to punch him a lot. Bren pressed a few buttons, and announced, "I got it working!" The other three crowded around. When he pressed one certain key, a holographic image appeared. "Hey, it's your pops!" he said to Chase and Angel.

_"Science entry 548-92,"_ the recording said. _"Jeredy Suno, protocol 3."_ A slideshow started, showing first a cliff, then a mysterious green substance. _"Early exploration into Monsuno essence shows that it is an energy source that seems very promising. Mining operations under my supervision have shown great quantities of the material. But only after intense research did I realize that the glowing plasma is actually a life-form. It was DNA…living essence. So I named it 'Monsuno.' A bit of vanity, I know, but I just couldn't help myself._

_"I developed a way to give the Monsuno essence a chance to hyper-evolve." Another hologram appeared—it was a core. "I call it a core. By combining various elements and animal DNA, the core can be spun out, creating a Monsuno that now has a direct connection with its controller. The core is not only the creative platform for a Monsuno, but also their home and regeneration station. A Monsuno must return to its core to rest and recharge."  
_

"What does that mean?" Chase asked.

Angel picked up. "How do we get them to—?"

"Return?" they finished at the same time.

That one word was the key. The bear and swan picked themselves up, and looked hard at the four. "D-Did I say something wrong?" Chase said nervously.

Angel frowned a little. _I wonder if…_ She held out her core, and said loudly, "Return!" In response, the swan flew forward at them—

And changed into a sparkling blue essence that was absorbed into the core!

The recoil almost sent Angel flying backwards. Chase stared first at her, then at the bear, and then at the core. He copied Angel, and the bear copied the swan. "I guess you just have to say 'return' then," Chase deduced.

"Thank you Captain Obvious!" Jinja said.

"U-Uh, guys?" Bren cut it. "I don't mean to sound scared, but…" Angel frowned, hearing something. _Helicopter…?_ "What is that?"

They looked up to see something circular hovering in mid-air, glowing brightly yellow, reminding Angel of the sun.

"It's another monster!" Bren shouted. And now that Angel looked up, she saw four hydra-like heads rear up from the Monsuno's back and roar. They started running.

But it followed them. They ran until they were forced to stop—by STORM soldiers. _They found us…!_

"That's far enough, Sunos," Trey said. "Now hand over the cores, and you and your friends won't get hurt."

"He's lying," Angel whispered to the others.

"No, I don't think so," Chase said. "You…you're gonna have to take it from us. And by the way…" He gained a solemn tone. "If you even so much as _touch_ Angel, you're dead."

"Fine by me, punk," the commander sneered, crossing his arms.

Chase's grip tightened on his core. "Our father left these cores for me and my sister!" he yelled.

"_Your father_ works for STORM," Trey retaliated. "We own his company, and everything he ever created. Now hand them over."

Jon again tried reasoning. "Trey, listen. Let me talk to them. I can reason—"

"You're finished talking. " He turned to another guy. "Elite! Take them!"

"You can't attack unarmed _kids_!"

"They _are_ armed."

Jon looked angry—and he was. Reading his thoughts, Angel's eyes widened. She knew what to do. She raised her arm, and threw her core. "Launch!" she yelled. The core spun toward another core—one that the guy launched—and they collided in a burst of blue and yellow. The lights died away, the blue one revealing the swan, and the yellow revealing a black creature that looked like a cross between an armadillo and a boar.

Chase's eyes narrowed, and he threw his core, yelling, "Go!" It smacked against a rock, and the bear appeared, roaring. The boar-armadillo charged at the bear, who grabbed it and smashed it against the ground. Chase cheered, "Way to go Lock!"

_Lock?_ Angel was about to question, when she heard her swan screech, and she looked up to see it dive-bombing the flying hydra. She was aware of her core sparkling, and as she watched, a circular hologram appeared, showing five sections of colored bars. "What's this?" she murmured to herself.

The STORM Monsuno charged at Lock again, who grabbed it. As the flying hydra dove down, a name suddenly came to Angel's mind. "Evo, stop that thing!" she cried.

With a screech, the swan issued a kamikaze charge right into the other STORM Monsuno. There was a blinding explosion in mid-air, and both airborne monsters were sent flying in different directions. But they weren't done yet.

The armadillo-boar was charging at Lock again. The flying hydra was going at Evo again. _Wait…maybe we can get them to take each other out!_

She relayed her idea to Chase mentally, and he thought back, _Nice idea, Ang! Let's do it!_

In fact, the Monsunos seemed to pick up on the idea as well. Evo flew toward Lock, who was standing steadfast. And at the last second—

Evo turned sharply vertical, while Lock vaulted up in a tremendous leap. Lock then came down hard on the flying hydra's back, causing it to shriek—and turn into a cloud of yellow essence, which shot into a core that another Elite was holding.

Evo followed up by diving straight at the armadillo-boar's side, sending it into one of the trucks. It also turned into a cloud of essence, following the path of the flying hydra. Accompanied by an impressive explosion followed by an impressive fireball. All four of them stared in awe at the wreckage the two beats caused. Lock ran toward them, and actually picked them up in one arm like a gorilla before running away from the scene, Evo flying overhead.

* * *

"Commandant Marshal Charlemagne, it's Commander Trey, reporting in. Jeredy Suno's children opened the safe, and they managed to spin the Monsunos into existence. We lost them in the woods."

"Yes, I vas vatching. Were zhey the ones? Were they zhe lynchpins?" the leader of STORM asked.

"We aren't sure of that, ma'am," Jon put in. "We'll need to run some tests. It seems like they could be, though."

"Commander Ace, I'm very disappointed in you," the commandant continued in a dangerously quiet voice. "Your actions are not consistent vith your training."  
"Well, I just though the kids deserved a fighting chance."  
"Which side are you on, Ace?" Trey asked.

"I like to think I'm on the right side."

Charlemagne put in, "Ve _are_ zhe right side. Jon, there's a war coming. And it's going to be nasty. STORM is all that stands between the survival of humanity and utter chaos. You know Jeredy Suno's vork better than anyone. Either you're with us, or the enemy."

"The _enemy_ you're speaking of are Jeredy's children."

"No…not anymore." She sounded almost regretful. "Zhey are rogue Monsuno controllers now. Enemies of the state. They are serious threats, and must surrender…or be eliminated."

* * *

"Well, I think we lost them," Jinja said. "But it does help that we have a massive and extremely furry transportation."

"Easy for you to say!" Bren exclaimed. "At least you didn't have Monsuno fur in your mouth! That's a taste I won't be getting out of my mouth for a while."

"It's not Lock's fault," Chase defended. "He was just trying to help."

"Lock?" Jinja queried at the same time as Bren.

"Yeah…that's his name."

"And Evo's mine's name," Angel put in.

"It's what our father said," Chase continued. "The passcode—every lock, a key."

"Well, that's where you got your Monsuno's name," Bren said. "But, Angel—what about yours? I mean, Evo—where'd you get that from?"

"It…it just came to me, I guess," Angel admitted.

"Huh." Chase looked down at the Monsuno they were riding. "Thanks for everything, Lock. I guess you should be getting some rest." They slid off, and Chase held up the core. "Lock, return!"

The bear Monsuno roared before doing so.

But as it happened…Angel winced, closing her eyes tight. An image slid over her mind—a black-and-gold lion Monsuno with huge, sharp-looking blades protruding from its shoulders…and a black, wolf-looking Monsuno with scary red eyes.

As quickly as it came, it was gone. She opened her eyes with a gasp, and saw the others look at her. "Anything wrong, Angel?" Jinja asked.

"No…it's nothing…"

* * *

"Interesting…" a man mused, watching a video of the four friends. "_Very_ interesting…" He paused the slide at an image of the two Monsunos, and chuckled to himself. _Now it begins…_


	4. Arc I: Courage, Part I

"This is the last of the stuff," one STORM troop said.

"Good, let's load the H-Trams and get the hell out—we only got three minutes."

"Jeez, those goons really stripped the place," Chase muttered once they were gone.

"At least the left finally," Jinja said.

"Which makes me ask—why are _we_ still here?" Bren put in.

Angel sighed. "Two reasons, B. One, this was our dad's lab. Maybe the STORM goons overlooked something that can help us find him."

Chase continued, "Two, there are a million STORM forces looking for us. This is the last place they'd expect to see us."

"Does that make sense?" Bren asked.

"I guess…in a Suno kind of way," Jinja replied.

Angel frowned after that. _What did those guys mean by three minutes to get out? I'll need to look around a bit more._ She stood, and began moving a few things.

"What's up Ange?" Chase asked.

"Something those guys said—three minutes.

"Uh guys?" Bren said suddenly. "_Please_ tell me this is not a bomb."

"Okay then," Jinja said in a forcibly-calm voice. "Then it's not a bomb."

"Except for the glaringly obvious fact that it _is_ a bomb!" Chase yelled. "run for it!" Jinja had already done so. Angel had already taken off through the roof, and was flying upward at top speed. When she was fifty feet away, the whole thing went up in an impressive fireball.

Angel turned her head to see an H-Tram driving away. She sent a thought down to them: _"Our only chance of finding our dad is driving away in those H-Trams!"_

* * *

Which led to the plan of ambushing the H-Tram. First Chase had the stupid idea of standing in the middle of the road. Of course the H-Tram screeched to a halt, the agents inside failing to notice that Chase had spun Lock out.

So when they opened the door, Lock's snarling face met them. "AAH! Close the door, close the door!" one yelped.

They tried to, but Lock had ripped the door off entirely by then, and tipped it so the soldiers tumbled out. They attempted them to shoot at Bren and Jinja, but were knocked away by Evo.

"Chase, why did you let them go?" Bren asked as the troops ran away, Lock chasing them.

"Sorry, but this isn't as easy as it looks!" Chase said. "Lock, return!"

The polar-bear Monsuno ran toward them, jumping—and turned into sparkly blue essence which shot into the core.

"Evo, return!" Angel called, and her swan did the same.

* * *

A few minutes later, they'd dug through almost everything that was in the H-Tram. "There's something in here STORM didn't want to blow up," Chase said. "Whatever it is—"

"Can help find dad."

Chase took out a suitcase of some kind, and opened it to reveal empty cores, and two belt-clips. "Hey, some belt clips! We'll hold onto those," Chase said, putting one on and handing the other one to Angel, who took it and instantly clipped it on.

"Spare cores, too," Angel said. "Those are bound to come in handy. Here you go Bren. Have some cores." She handed them off to the glasses-wearing boy.

"With pleasure," he said, putting them into his bag.

"Hey guys?" Jinja said, holding up a box. "This looks important." She opened it to reveal a blue core—that was empty.

"It looks like it's a core—and it's been used," Angel exclaimed. "It looks like ours—and it has everything except for a Monsuno," she continued, basing her words on everyone's thoughts. "It's activated, but empty."

"I wonder where that Monsuno is?" Chase mused.

At that moment, the Core-Tablet beeped. Bren took it out, right as a holographic video came up. It was Jeredy. The recording said, "Core-Tech Core Number A11. Experimental Monsuno 2-7-5. Name: Nightstone. During my primary experiments in Monsuno spinning, I attempted to use a highly-volatile sample of Monsuno essence."

Angel gasped. _This was one of the first Monsunos that dad created, then!_

The recording continued. "The Monsuno produced was powerful, destructive, and one-hundred percent unpredictable. Through Nightstone, I estimated a Monsuno's limits—vital knowledge for my work. STORM wanted to exceed those limits…they ordered cruel and painful tests. I refused.

"STORM took everything: equipment, research…and Nightstone. I suspected they might perform their cruel experiments despite my protests. So I switched Nightstone's core out with a fake. Monsuno can only survive outside of their cores for a short time—eight minutes. The experimental field is the only thing keeping Nightstone alive. I plan to recover it as soon as possible, and return it to its core. It is a dangerous strategy, as he may reject my control…and even kill me. I plan to do this as soon as possible."

The recording ended. Angel's eyes narrowed. "Dad didn't get a chance to save Nightstone…so it's up to us."

* * *

A Monsuno encased in a glowing green experimental field stomped on the ground, roaring in anger. Resembling a black cat crossed with a jackal, it was a beautiful creature. Sadly its captors didn't feel that way.

A red beam was shot at the shield, causing the Monsuno to struggle wildly, screeching. "Pain threshold's at forty-five percent. Fifth vital's at seven dulls. Tolerance is point two and dropping."

* * *

"We have to find the monster's true limits. Hit it again. And again."

Trey glanced sideways at Jon. "You've lost your edge, Ace. We all signed up for STORM service, knowing very well what we were getting into."

"I didn't sign up for this…for torturing Monsuno," Jon countered.

"We're not torturing them, Ace," Trey mocked. "We're learning what we need to know. They don't feel it; they're nothing but mindless beasts."

"Are they? Or is it just easier to think they are?" This earned Jon a sideways glare that he paid no heed to.

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, this plan _will_ work!" Chase said. "This H-Tram is our ticket into the STORM base."

He placed his hand on the control pad, and a computerized voice said, _"Access denied_."

"If we can get it moving, of course…"

"And by _we_, you mean _me_," Jinja said. "And by _if_, you mean the more advanced the security, the more fun it is to hotwire!" She did as such, and buckled herself in.

"Uh, you sure you can drive this thing?" Bren asked.

"Of course! I was born driving," Jinja said. "Now shut up and strap in!"

She didn't give them any time to, however—she punched the gas instantly, and the H-Tram shot forward.

Amazingly they got there within fifteen minutes. Probably because Jinja was going one-forty miles an hour. As soon as they neared the gate, floodlights turned on.

"H-Tram," a voice said over a radio. "State ID, passcode, and status." The said things came up on a screen. Bren read it. Forcibly altering his voice, he read it aloud.

What killed it was him adding "Status is…pretty messed up."

A few tense moments went by. Then: "H-Tram 293 entry clear. You were expected an hour ago. Proceed directly to mech bay for repair."

As they went in, Bren cheered, "Your plan, it worked!" to Chase. He broke off when he saw both Chase and Angel looking through the window. Some STORM soldiers were watching them curiously.

Angel shivered slightly. _They're wondering what happened._

"'Kay…now what?" Jinja asked. Angel knew what Chase was going to say before he even thought it.

Until he said something totally different. "You three find that Monsuno. Rescue it, and then come rescue me." Namely, he used the word _me_.

"What?" Angel exclaimed. "No, Chase! I'm going with you!"  
"No way, Ange. I don't want you getting hurt!" He went out before any of them could say anything, slamming the door behind him. He dashed for it, and the STORM soldiers followed.

Angel harrumphed. "That Chase," Bren said. "He's crazy."

"Brains he may be lacking, but he's got guts, I'll give him that," Jinja said with a nod.

"Now to do our part of it," Angel said, experimentally pressing a few keys on the interface. "Where in this maze are they hiding that Monsuno?"


	5. Arc I: Courage, Part II

In the experimental room, an alarm began blaring. "We have a halogen leak!" Jon Ace exclaimed. "Everyone evacuate! Seal the doors!"

* * *

"I did it!" Bren exclaimed happily. "Now let' go!" He stood and was about to dash out—only to be grabbed by Jinja. "Hold it. Why walk when—

"You can drive?" Angel chose to finish.

First Jinja gave her a weird look, and then she facepalmed. "Mind-reading—right. I keep forgetting."

"Maybe 'cause my dad drilled into you _not_ to tell anyone?"

The wheels squealed as they started rolling high-speed suddenly. "Buckle up!" Jinja said.

* * *

Chase kept running, hiding behind a wall. Two STORM soldiers ran by, not noticing him. Sighing, he was about to go back into the main hall—

Only to back up suddenly as a damaged H-Tram blitzed by. He stared after it, open-mouthed. _Well, that's a way to do it,_ he thought with a chuckle. _Typical Jinja._

* * *

The H-Tram burst through the door, turning and skidding to a halt. "You can't say _that_ wasn't fun," Jinja said, coming out.

"Yes I can," Bren said, promptly following with, "It wasn't fun."

Angel rolled her eyes. "You're such a wuss," she teased. A banging made both girls turn, and what they saw made them stare.

It was the Monsuno. Mainly black with a blue underside and blue crystals sticking up from its shoulders, it repeatedly head-bashed the stasis field, roaring. It was very angry.

"Wow," Bren whispered.

Jinja looked at him, holding her hand out. "Core please," she said.

Then something happened that Angel would have never expected. "No," Bren said, a mulish look going onto his face.

"Excuse me?" Jinja asked, looking incredulous. "You heard the recording—Nightstone could reject our control and tear us to pieces. This Monsuno's dangerous. Taming it's gonna take courage, guts, tenacity, fearlessness, temerity, and metal. Now tell me…does any of that sound like you, Bren?"

"Maybe not," he admitted. "But I want a Monsuno too," he said. "and I want _that_ Monsuno."

Jinja looked at him in a steely manner, and at first Angel thought she was going to argue…but she said, "Oh, fine."

"Really?" Bren exclaimed, shocked. He quickly corrected himself by saying, "Thanks Jin. You're a good friend, you know that?"

She smirked, going over to a control panel. Angel stared hard at Nightstone. _He's really upset,_ she thought. _I hope Bren knows what he's doing._

Bren walked up to the stasis field. "Ready?" Jinja asked.

"Ready," Bren responded.

Jinja hit the button, and the green stasis wall faded. Nightstone paused, and bent its head down to look at Bren closely. "Oh crag," he muttered, holding the core. "Here, kitty-kitty," he said quietly. "C'mon kitty." Obviously Nightstone didn't want to go back into his core—he was struggling to remain solid. _This isn't going to end well,_ Angel thought.

"Hey Nightstone!" Bren yelled. "I'm not trying to hurt you—I'm trying to help!" He grit his teeth, and shouted, "Nightstone, _return!_"

And that did it—the cat-jackal reverted into a sparkling-blue essence form, which shot into the core at long last.

* * *

Chase paused from running, panting heavily. "Oh man…" he panted. "I think…I pulled…a lung." He continued dashing, but this time down a different hall—a bad move. As soon as he got into the large, open room, a door shut behind him, and he saw about forty STORM soldiers pointing stun-blasters at him. He looked around wildly until he saw who he was looking for. "What's going on here, Mr. Ace?" Chase asked. "Do you—does STORM have my father?!"

"No," Jon said. "I assure you it's nothing like that. I don't know where your father is, but I _do _know that we didn't do anything to him."

"Then why would he just leave?"

"Your father lost sight of his objectivity. He forgot he was a scientist, and became blind to the bigger picture—the Monsuno. They're dangerous—to your father, to you, to Angel…to the whole world."

Chase backed up. "No…you're the dangerous one. You were dangerous to my father, my sister, my friends…and if you don't get out of my way…" He took Lock's core form his belt clip. "…then _I'll_ be the one who'll be dangerous to _you_."

Then Trey decided to intervene. "Ace, you have your orders. Take him!"

In response, Jon took a black-and-yellow STORM core form his belt clip. "You're in over your head, Chase," he said. "This is for your own good." He ran a safe distance away before he threw the core, yelling, "Blackbullet, launch!"

Chase replied in suit, "Lock, launch!"

The two cores sped toward each other, clanking together. A blinding flash of blue and yellow illuminated the area. From the yellow light a Monsuno that looked like a falcon with four wings like Evo—except this one had black and yellow wings. From the blue light, Lock slid backwards. He growled at Blackbullet before roaring a challenge. "Lock, look out!" Chase exclaimed as Blackbullet sped toward the polar-bear. The order came too late—Blackbullet smashed into Lock, knocking him out of the building. The falcon flew out and into the sky.

Chase ran outside. "Lock, get up!" He looked around. _Where is it?_ A gleam caught his eye—it was coming from above!

Again Lock was knocked backwards. Chase looked at the core, and saw the five-segmented diagram lose one whole segment and a quarter of the second. _Crag!_ _Where the heck is that thing?_ He looked up, just in case—and saw Blackbullet coming in, outlined against the moon. "Block!" Chase yelled.

The Monsuno actually put a force-field up—Blackbullet slammed into it beak-first, but all it did was send Lock flying into a cloud-hopper, which promptly exploded. "No way!" Chase exclaimed.

"Sorry kid," Jon said. "That kind of shield is useless in a fight."

Chase looked at the core—Lock hadn't, miraculously, taken any damage. "We're not giving up yet!" he shouted.

Again Blackbullet came in. "Shield, again!" Chase said. But Lock did nothing. _Huh? What—_ He froze. _I…I see._ "Do it Lock!"

"What is he up to?" Jon muttered to himself.

When Blackbullet came in close—Lock jumped, actually slamming onto Blackbullet's back. The falcon screeched in pain.

_Unbelievable,_ Jon thought. _Normally that would take _years_ of training to master perfect timing like that!_ _ It looks like I might just have underestimated Jeredy's son after all._ "Blackbullet, return!" he ordered. The falcon complied, changing back into yellow essence.

"Alright, we won!" Chase cheered.

Jon watched on, but the moment was ruined when Trey said, "alright, time to bring out the big guns. Soldier, hand me Riccoshot."

"Yes sir!" a soldier said, bringing a case containing a Monsuno Launcher.

"Trey, are you serious? Riccoshot is excessive force!" Jon countered.

The Commander ignored him. "This time the kid's going down, and not getting back up." He put the sight up, put the core in, and grabbed the lever. "Riccoshot, launch!" he ordered. The core shot out of the launcher, shooting across the desert sand.

There was a flash of yellow, and a Monsuno resembling a beetle emerged. _That thing is huge,_ Chase thought. "Lock, something tells me we're in some serious trouble."

And trouble they were in. The beetle's horn started glowing brightly, and a wave of electricity shot from it. Chase quickly got out of the way, while Lock was sent sliding back a little. The residue also caused the other cloud-hoppers to detonate.

And then there was an explosion from an upper level of the base. All of them looked up to see a large silhouette leaping down. When it finally hit the ground and the moonlight fell onto it, Chase was surprised. It was a Core-Tech Monsuno—Nightstone. On its back were _Bren_ and Angel. "Chase!" Bren yelled. "We got your back!"

"Sorry we're late!" Angel added. "Evo, launch!" Her core arced through the air, colliding with Riccoshot's horn. There was a swirl of blue light, and Evo shot into the sky. Trey looked incredibly furious now.

"Guys, I have a plan. But we have to drive that behemoth into the hanger. Then we'll drop the roof on 'im."

_"Nice plan!"_ Angel commented mentally. _"Behemoth—I'm keeping that one!"_

"Come on Lock!" Chase shouted, climbing up onto the Monsuno's back. When Evo swooped down, Angel performed her specialty high-jump onto its back.

"Over here!" Bren taunted, waving his hands rapidly to get the beetle's attention. Nightstone then tailed lock toward the hanger.

Riccoshot burst through one of the doors about three-point-five seconds later. It scuttled in, scanning the area for them. "Look behind you!" Angel called in a playful tone. The beetle did an epic-fail—esque attempt to whirl around. It charged an attack and slammed onto the ground, sending out a wave of electricity—only to have the others jump it at the last moment. Both Lock and Nightstone then slammed onto the roof, Evo also dive-bombing as hard as she could.

As a result, the whole darn building went down. A stream of gold essence filtered out of the building, but the others were already dashing toward the nearby forest.

* * *

Once they were certain they were a safe distance away, the three of them stopped and called their Monsunos back. "I thought you said Jinja would meet us here," Chase said, failing to notice the recoil of Nightstone going back into his core causing Bren to almost drop it.

"Don't worry, she will. She said she wanted to _borrow_ a getaway car."

At that moment, their ride showed up—though it wasn't much of a ride.

"Sweet wheels," Chase mocked.

"Zip it cowboy," Jinja growled. "It was the best I could find that _wasn't on fire_."

"Bren, it took courage to rescue Nightstone like that," Chase said once they were on their way.

"Yep," Bren said. "Me and Nightstone." He laughed, looking at the core. "This is gonna be fun!"


	6. Arc I: Underground, Part I

Angel _really _wanted to spread her wings and fly—it was a beautifully-clear day. Of course that would be suicide, since they were smack in the middle of Axistown.

She, Chase, and Bren were looking around in awe. "Whoa," Chase said.

"What he said," Bren followed.

"Third to that!" Angel exclaimed.

"First time in the big city?" Jinja asked.

"I can't believe we came all the way to _Axistown_ just to see someone's grandma," Bren said.

"She's not just someone's grandmother, B," Angel said.

"Yeah, she's…uh, what is she again, Jinja?" Chase continued.

"I don't know exactly…"

"Well that's inspiring," Bren muttered.

Jinja ignored him. "All I know is that I know a guy who knows a guy, who knows this lady who supposedly knows _everything_, who lives here in Axistown. But whether she knows anything about Chase's and Angel's father…"

"Is up to us to find out," Chase finished.

Angel looked around anxiously. She had always been a bit of an agoraphobic—she never really knew why. Bren had suggested it was part of her mysterious lost memories. She accepted that theory readily.

Suddenly the winged girl stopped, sniffing. "Oh my God, that smells good," she said, walking toward a food stand. Her foster brother and Bren were right behind her.

"You guys are hopeless, you know that?" Jinja exclaimed, exasperated.

* * *

After a good lunch, they finally found their way to a hilltop house that was apparently home of "Grandma Future" as she was known as.

Angel froze. _Um…this is weird…_ "Guys?" she said quietly. "I'm not getting anything from her…not at all."

"Really?" the other three asked.

Bren looked, and said quietly, "_That's_ Grandma Future?"

Suddenly the old woman spoke. "Perhaps I can no longer see, but I can hear perfectly fine. Do come in."

"Uhm, Grandma Future, we heard you know things…" Chase started.

"You're here to ask about your father, Jeredy Suno."

"You know him?" Angel exclaimed, anxiety forgotten.

"Yes, I know him. We've been friends for years. How is he?"

"He's gone missing."

"Then we must help him. Chase, when exactly did your father disappear? Do you remember where he was? What he was doing?"

"That's why we're here!" Jinja exclaimed. "We were hoping you could help us."

"Yes, yes, of course." Grandma Future stood. "Let me think a moment…" She walked over to the porch railing. "The last thing he said was that he was going into the Underground for research, looking for a man by the name of Mr. Black."

"That doesn't sound good," Bren said.

"You know what else doesn't sound good?" Jinja cut in. "Your mouth not moving."

"Sorry about them," Angel cut in. "They do that…_a lot_." She glared at both of them slightly.

"You were telling us about the Underground?" Chase said.

"It is a place of evil, my child," the old woman said. "I warned your father, though I can only wish he had listened. Now it rests on you. You must go. _You_ must find him. But remember, the road you are about to travel is one of danger. Here is the address." She gave it to Chase. "And…my special charm, for luck. Now go, but be careful. And let me know as soon as you find your father."

* * *

"That was weird," Angel said. "Now where does this address go to?"

"I can't believe you took that rock!" Jinja said.

"Jin, by now we need all the luck we can get," Chase said, looking at the turquoise-colored stone. They found an old warehouse. Angel looked at the others. "Chase, help me with this."

"Sure thing." Both of them put their full weights against the door. Though Angel was less than one-hundred, she was much stronger than normal people her age. So it wasn't even a minute before the door opened. Showing a dark stairway.

"Call me crazy, but I think this is the Underground," Chase said.

"Isn't that obvious?" Jinja deadpanned.

But no sooner did they step forward once and a red-colored _thing_ lunged at them. It looked like an insect of some kind. But right as Chase was set to spin Lock out, a rough voice said, "Return." The red creature—a Monsuno, he realized—turned into essence, which shot into a core. Now they saw a thickset man wearing a black suit glaring at them. "You four kids don't belong here," he growled. "Beat it!"

"Okay!" Bren yelped, turning to leave. Angel grabbed his shoulder.

"We need to see Mr. Black," she said forcefully.

The man scoffed. "Mr. Black doesn't see anyone."

"Grandma Future sent us!" Jinja exclaimed.

Amazingly that worked. "Inside," the man said, stepping to the side.

"Was that a Monsuno?" Jinja asked.

"Why was it all scary?" Bren cut in.

But before any of them could answer, they were very suddenly in a big, open room dominated by a stadium of some kind, filled with tons of people who were cheering for—

Two red Monsunos fighting.

"Why are everyone's Monsunos red here?" Chase asked.

Angel glanced to the side. "Heads-up," she said. The others followed, right as a man wearing a gray suit and hat came up to them.

"Hey, how many times do I hafta tell you punks—core deliveries are at the back, and don't be jacking the price like—"

"We're not delivering anything!" Chase cut in. "We're looking for Mr. Black."

"Heh. Must be your lucky day, 'cause you just found Mr. Black."

"Oh I get it!" Bren exclaimed. "They call you Mr. Black because of your bad teeth!"

Angel face-faulted, right as Mr. Black subsequently got into Bren's face while saying, "You talking to me, punk?"

Jinja yanked Bren backwards and hissed, "Didn't I tell you to check with me _before_ you speak?"

"Mr. Black, Grandma Future said you can help me find my father," Chase said.

"I help a lotta people, kid—I'm in the business of helping people. Only problem is, this place is members only." He gestured to the left, and Angel saw some VIP-looking tables. "My members've already proved that they can handle my club. Now, if I help you find Jeredy, I'd be breaking my rules." He then got into Bren's face again. "I've been known to break a lot of things, but _never_ my rules." Bren gulped, backing away, shivering and whimpering.

"Wait a second," Jinja said. "How did you know their dad's name is Jeredy?"

"Are you kidding kid?" Mr. Black exclaimed. He looked at Chase. "You look just like your old man!"

"So our father _was_ here," Angel exclaimed.

She expected what happened next—Mr. Black's blank look of confusion at realizing Chase and Angel were siblings. At first glance people never got it—Chase had black hair and teal-colored eyes, while Angel had blond hair and blue eyes.

Chase looked up. "Alright, where do I sign up for this club?"

"In there." The man pointed to the arena, where the fight had just ended. "You gotta win, though. 'Cause if you lose, I get your Monsuno."

"Wait a second—!"

"What're you 'fraid of? You got what it takes, don't you? Plus, win and you get some of that Monsuno magic in a jar." He pointed to where two guards were standing on either side of a glass case, which held a vial of Monsuno essence. "That thing's worth its weight in gold—pretty dangerous having it, I know, but it's an occupational hazard."

"You'll tell me everything about my and Angel's dad if I win?" Chase asked.

"Kid, I'll even draw you a map!"

"Alright…I'm in." The man grinned.

Jinja then dragged him over to a table, sitting down. "Chase, are you insane?" she asked. "Lock is one of the last links to your father—what if you lose him? It's too risky."

"Jin's right," Bren said, surprising them. He paused. "Wait, did I really just say that?" He shook his head. "I'll do it—me and Nightstone got this, no problem! I hope…"

* * *

Bren slowly stepped up onto one of the pedestals for the controllers. "C'mon Bren, you can do it!" Angel cheered. The glasses-wearing boy looked up and grinned a bit before turning his attention to his opponent. Just his luck—it was Mr. Black himself.

Bren looked at his core. _Get ready Nightstone. This could get ugly._ Flinging the core, he exclaimed, "Nightstone, launch!"

Mr. Black followed up with, "Spikelash, launch!"

The two cores spun toward each other quickly, colliding in a flash of red-and-blue light in the center of the arena. Already the two Monsunos were at each other's throats—Nightstone headrammed the insect-like Monsuno, and it retaliated in the same way, sending them both skidding back. But suddenly Nightstone was electrocuted, taking two whole segments away from its health.

"Wha'—Nightstone, block!"

The cat-jackal Monsuno complied, putting a shield in front of its head while Spikelash attempted to dig its claw in. But the shield broke. "Crag, get out of there!" Bren yelled. Too late—Spikelash actually picked Nightstone up and flung him. "Nightstone, get up!" the brown-haired controller cried. The Monsuno did stand up shakily, but he wasn't looking too good.

And again, he was electrocuted. And now Spikelash had acid forming in its mouth—

Bren couldn't stand it. "Nightstone, return!" The Monsuno complied just in time. Instantly the others were there.

"I-I'm sorry," Bren said quickly.

"It's nothing Bren," Angel said.

"Yeah—Black cheated. I don't know how, but he cheated," Jinja added.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me," the man then said in a smooth tone. Bren looked at Nightstone, and looked like he was really going to start crying.

"Wait!" Chase said. "I'll fight you, one-on-one, your rules."

Black looked puzzled a moment, but then he said, "Alright kid, you got a deal."

"Chase, you can't win this!" Jinja said. "But _I _can." She winked at him before saying, "Just watch." She looked at Black. "Change of plans. I'm the one fighting you."

Everything went dead-quiet. "Eh, go play with someone your own size, half-pint," the man said.

"Oh, and before anything happens, I want to make some things clear. If I win, we keep Bren's Monsuno. And I get the Monsuno essence."

"And when you lose? What's in it for me? It better be _good_."

"I'll let you decide that."

"Deal!" Black responded too fast for Angel's comfort. "Righty, Lefty." The two guards came up—they were easily twice Jinja's size. "Crush 'er."

But not many people could stand up to an angry Jinja. She dashed up, jumping and kicking them both in the shoulders hard enough to knock them down. It seemed that she was at the glass case within five seconds, and had taken the vial out. "Now this is mine," she said, holding it up while looking victorious.

Angel, Chase, and Bren all gaped in shock. After that all four of them were racing for an exit, before anything else happened.


	7. Arc I: Underground, Part II

They ran through the tunnel, ignoring the fact that it was partially filled with water. Chase, Bren, and Jinja all tried opening a steel door—no luck.

Until Angel rammed herself into it, which knocked it off of its hinges. Genetic engineering at its best. "Nice one Ang," Chase said, standing.

"Thought you guys needed a hand," the bird-girl replied, looking smug.

"Um…why is the ground shaking?" Bren asked no one in particular. Angel frowned. _The ground _is_ shaking…why?_ She looked down the tunnel…and gained a horrified expression.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Chase yelled loudly as they all turned and began running—they'd run right into a subway tunnel. And the train was right behind them. "Just when I thought things couldn't get worse!"

"I knew they could!" Bren said.

"How dare you jinx us, bro!" Angel scolded.

"Thanks for sharing Mr. Positive!" Jinja exclaimed. Then she remembered something—she had one of the empty cores with her, as well as the vial of Monsuno essence…maybe she could save them!

Acting fast, she put the essence into the core. The core immediately turned a bright blue. Then she turned and threw the core, shouting "Launch!"

The core moved fast, colliding with the front of the train. There was a flash of blue light, and the Monsuno that appeared resembled a cross between a horse, an antelope, and a raven. It lowered its head so that it was bracing itself against the train, slowing it.

As soon as the train had stopped, the Monsuno turned to regard them, shrieking. "now that's what I'm talking about!" Jinja exclaimed. "Return!" Her Monsuno complied. Afterwards she turned to smirk at her friends.

* * *

"Look, light!" Bren cheered. Angel sighed in relief.

Then she turned her attention elsewhere. _"So Jinja, did you think of what to call your Monsuno?"_ she asked mentally.

_Not yet._

"C'mon guys," Chase said. "Let's hurry up and get out of here before—"

"You promised me my battle. I've come to collect," a familiar voice cut in. Mr. Black. _Of course…_

Chase immediately jumped into action. "Lock, launch!" he exclaimed.

Angel followed up with Evo, Bren with Nightstone, and Jinja with her unnamed Monsuno. "Lock, look out for that thing's acid," Chase warned. Just in time as well—Lock jumped right as Spikelash attempted to spit acid at the bear Monsuno.

Said Monsuno grabbed Spikelash and flung it onto the rail tracks. "Nightstone go! Get into it!" Bren yelled. Nightstone snarled before shooting three orbs of blue fireball-like energy.

"Snapclaw, dodge it!" one of Black's lackeys said. The insect Monsuno jumped backwards.

"My turn!" the other guy said. His Monsuno immediately _breathed fire_ at Jinja's Monsuno.

"Go!" she shouted. The Monsuno leaped into the air, dodging the jet of flames perfectly.

"Evo, teach 'em a lesson!" Angel said. Her swan Monsuno swooped at Spikelash, clawing it in the face before flapping its wings and sending out some kind of energy beam. Unfortunately, this also caused the building they were in began to collapse as well. "Guys, let's go!" Angel shouted.

They got outside literally right as the Monsunos broke through the bottom of the street.

"Be careful Lock! Watch out for its tail!" Chase said. A bit too late—Lock got smacked in the face.

Angel gasped. "Evo, do something!"

Her Monsuno flew at Spikelash, slamming into it—getting out of the way in time for Nightstone to attack it mercilessly.

Jinja's Monsuno managed to dodge another flamethrower from the alligator-like Monsuno, although this caused the whole building to get split in two—that would DEFINITELY get on the news in the morning. If not a half-hour later.

And as luck would have it, the part of the building fell right on top of all three red Monsunos, squashing them flat. They reverted to sparkling red essence, which shot into their cores.

"H-How can this be?!" Black exclaimed, starting to bolt for it.

"Evo?" Angel said. "Get 'im."

Her Monsuno swooped down on him, pinning him under a talon. "Call 'er off! Call 'er off!" Black pleaded, looking desperate.

Angel put her hands on her hips. "First things first," she said with a smirk. "Not until you tell us everything you know about me and my bro's dad."

"Ah, I don't know nothin', kid!"

Angel knew he was lying. "Evo?" The bird Monsuno pressed its claw down slightly.

"No wait! Your old man was at the Underground; showed up asking a bunch of questions about my core, like who I got 'em from and who made 'em; I told 'im the truth I know nothin'!" he stammered out. Angel then heard a high-pitched sound.

As well as an angry, familiar voice. "Shut up! Shut up now you fool!" Chase frowned and took the "lucky stone" out of his pocket—the sound was coming from it as well. Realizing, he threw it down and stepped on it hard.

"Evo, return!" Angel said. As soon as the Monsuno was back into essence, Black scrambled up.

He ran away screaming "_Heeeeelllp!_"

The others called their Monsunos back as well. "I say we get out of here—and fast," Chase said.

"Right!" the other three agreed simultaneously, and they began running.

* * *

Later on, they hid out in an abandoned car-dealership building. "Well, well, well," Chase said. "Look who's got her own Monsuno."

"Beautiful, huh?" Jinja said, looking at her core. "did you see the way he stopped that train? I still don't know what to name him, though…"  
"Quickforce," Angel said suddenly.

"Huh?" the other three said at the same time. "Angel, what makes you say that?" Jinja asked.

"It just came to me." The blond girl shrugged, looking confused. "Like with Evo."

"Quickforce…yeah, I like that," Jinja mused.

"Jin, how did you know the core was pre-loaded?" Chase asked.

"I didn't, until I put in the Monsuno essence."

"Your dad preloaded all of these cores!" Bren exclaimed. "Animal DNA, chemical elements, the works!" And at that moment the Core-Tablet beeped. A new news article.

It read: "_A few minutes ago, STORM released a statement that the rumors of monster sightings by an old train station in Axistown was caused by no more than a methane explosion._"

"STORM…" Chase muttered. "They're up to something."

Angel nodded. "They're trying to keep the existence of Monsunos secret…but why?"


	8. Arc I: Wicked, Part I

It was a bright morning. Three different people were literally climbing up the side of a building's wall…while another jumped up.

"She crazy!" one of the ones climbing—a thickset man with dark-brown hair wearing a red headband—said.

Another brown-haired man wearing a black hoodie said, "She's crazy? Don't forget, we're the ones following her!"

The last one, a blond man wearing a green jacket, simply hung onto a rope tied to the first one for dear life.

The one who had jumped up—the only girl—gave a high-pitched laugh as the other three finally made it up. "Hurry little ones," she said. "You're missing the view from the top of the world."

"Climb more better twig-boy," the first man said. "I ain't no elevator."

The blond picked himself up right as his cellphone rang. "Mistress? Our elusive patron is calling," he said, throwing the phone to the only girl.

She answered. "Hello Medea," the voice on the other end said. "A little old lady in Axistown recently had a run-in with two new players on the scene. Two very…important ones."

The lady frowned a bit at the image that came up on the phone. "Oh, they seem harmless. They're just children."

The man on the other end laughed. "Two mice for your claws, my dear. They're both of great interest to me, on many levels. The girl in particular….Use your DarkSpin crew to find them, take them alive, and put them in cryofreeze…then, bring them AND their cores to me."

"Your dime, my pleasure," Medea replied.

"And one last thing…be sure to clip the girl's wings while you're at it."

Another picture came up on the phone, although it was slightly blurry. But it clearly showed the blond girl about ten feet in the air, white wings spread wide.

* * *

_"Science Entry 248-14, Doctor Jeredy Suno, protocol 5. Proper Spin Technique: the range of launch spins seem only limited to the technique of the controller. Like fingerprints, each launch spin technique will ultimately be different. Through research, I've perfected my own style."_ The hologram the Core-Tablet was showing demonstrated. _"It incorporates a number of elements that I believe necessary to create a solid technique."_

Chase took out a blank core, and did his best to copy what the hologram version of his father had done. It looked a little similar…but like the recording had said, it had its own differences. The core knocked an empty soda can over, right next to Jinja. The core bounced off of the can, hit an old tire, and rebounded back to him. He caught it.

"Practice makes perfect!" he stated. At that moment, a strange sound came from the Core-Tablet.

"Um…is it me, or is it getting a call?" Angel asked no one in particular.

"Definitely!" Bren said. "Coming on ten different frequencies.

"Then answer it!" Chase said. No one did. "Ugh, let me do it…"

He was stopped by Jinja. "Wait! Maybe we should let it go to message…"

"If we answer, we could be traced," Angel finished, based on what Jinja was thinking.

"And we have a message," Bren said a few moments later.

Chase immediately pressed the button…which revealed that it had been Jeredy who had been calling in the first place. _"Chase…Angel…do you hear me?"_

"Dad!" they both exclaimed. Chase immediately rounded on Bren and Jinja. "Why'd you guys stop me?!" Bren put his hands up in defense.

"Chase, we didn't know who—"

"It was our dad!" Angel exclaimed, exasperated.

_"Meet me at the following coordinates," _the message continued. _"13-10-87. I have important information—very dangerous—I'm attaching a file. Help me—Chase, Angel, I need you!"_ The message cut off abruptly. That did not help Angel's anxiety at all.

"Let's go," Chase said instantly, heading toward the door.

"Yeah, he sent his coordinates!" Angel followed.

"He's not that far."

"Guys, wait!" Jinja said. "I think we should give Bren time to decode the message—see if it's legit or not before we run off half-cocked."

"_Legit_?" Chase repeated. "I think I know my own dad, Jin."

"What if it's a trick? Or if someone else is listening in?"

"Think about it," Bren reasoned. "Everyone and his brother knows we have your dad's Core-Tablet, right? I mean, it's not impossible to fake a transmission. This could be a trap."

* * *

"I'm telling the truth, Commander Trey," a soldier said. "We picked up a message on all ten of the doctor's known frequencies."

"Suno's old STORM frequencies…that's odd," Jon Ace mused. "Why would Jeredy—"

"It doesn't matter why," Trey interrupted. "What matters is that we have him. Unscramble that message, soldier! I want to know where Jeredy Suno is, and I want to know now!"

* * *

Night had set in. Bren suddenly gasped. "What'd you find B?" Angel asked.

"I think I may have just unzipped the file he attached."

"The attack gauge on the core is for use by controllers during Monsunos to more effectively—" Jinja started reading, but she was interrupted by Chase.

"Tense! It's combat training!" He slapped a high-five with Angel. One thing about Angel—she was perfectly fine with fighting, and good at it as well. Exact reason why she gained black-belt reputation in high-school, even though she didn't even know karate.

"Combat?" Bren repeated, sounding bemused. "I thought your dad didn't like fighting that much."

"Yeah," Angel said, just realizing it. "Something's fishy."

"This doesn't sound like him at all," Chase followed.

"Or maybe your dad's just trying to keep you both safe," Jinja said, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. "By helping you be the best Monsuno controllers you can be."

"Yeah, that's it!" Chase exclaimed, brightening.

"Slow down cowboy. I'm just guessing here…we don't know anything for sure." She looked at the still-open file. "We have to keep working on it."

"And in the meantime, my dad could be out there, waiting for us to save him!" Angel said, fired up. "What if that's why he sent us the combat manual?"

"I am getting seriously tired," Bren complained. "And this Core-Tablet is still all locked up. I need more time to verify that message."

Angel gripped Evo's core. _That message is real all right,_ she thought. Jinja put a hand on Chase's shoulder again. "Chase…please, can we just sleep on this?" she asked. "We can check it out in the morning." Angel's brother reluctantly (and grudgingly) consented.

* * *

Around midnight, Angel opened her eyes. Perfect—the others were asleep, even Chase. _Sorry Chase,_ she thought. _But I want to go see myself…and if I get in trouble, I can handle myself._

She slipped out of a broken window, spreading her wings and taking flight. The air was crisp and cool, and the sky was gorgeously clear. She always felt better about herself when she was flying, like she belonged in the air more than on the ground. She angled herself toward where those coordinates were, relying on her internal compass—one of the multiple weird quirks about her, besides the mind-reading. She still had no memories prior to waking up in her home in Melian City.

She landed outside of the warehouse she came to, going in. It was all dark—did she hear something above her?

She shivered. _Nice going Suno,_ she told herself. _Not your brightest idea…_ A shuffling sound got her attention. "Dad?" she asked, running down the hall. In there…?

She turned in—only to get punched in the face hard enough to end her straight into unconsciousness. Just great.

But before her consciousness faded, she had one subconscious thought: _Max would kill me if she knew how stupid I just was._

* * *

Chase yawned. _Alright, I don't care if Angel, Bren, and Jinja aren't up yet—I'm waking them up!_ He was in for a huge shock when he looked over to Angel's makeshift bed. She wasn't there.

"Angel?!" he exclaimed.

Immediately the other two were up. "Huh? Hey, where is she?" Bren said, looking around. "Angel? Where are you?"

"Angel?" Jinja called. She froze. "Chase, you don't think—?"

"Yeah, I think," he replied, looking grim. "She must've gone looking for dad!"

* * *

Angel had the strangest dream. She was flying, but she wasn't alone—there were five other people with her, also having wings! One was a girl with blond-streaked brown hair, who had pale-tan wings with white streaks and brown specks. Another was a boy with sorta-long black hair and black wings that glinted purple in the light. There was a strawberry-blond boy with gray wings. A girl with mocha-colored wings. And a blond boy with blue eyes with silver wings…he looked almost like a male version of herself! What the crag was with that?!

Suddenly her eyes snapped open, and she sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. A small laugh made her look to the side—there was someone there. "Bad dream?" It was a black-haired woman wearing a black outfit with a red trim. "On your feet, girl. You're to be tested in the only game worth playing. Life or death."

Alright, this chick was starting to creep her out. She stood up. "Where's my dad?" she asked in a low, dangerous voice. "Let me see him right now!"

"Ooh, such spirit! A good virtue to have. Your father is here…you can see him, and you can even take him with you." She threw something to Angel—Evo's core. The woman held up a red core. "That is, if you can beat me. I have been searching for someone worthy of my time—you see, it's all about dueling…to win the ultimate victory, or perish in glory. The duel is _everything!_"

While she had been ranting, Angel had been getting ready to launch Evo. "Lady, I don't know about you, but my dad's everything to me. So bring it—Evo, launch!"

"Yes, bring it indeed! Poisonwing, launch!"

The cores collided in the center of the room. Evo immediately flew upward, while a red cobra-like Monsuno—immediately grabbed one of Evo's feet and slammed her into the ground. _Didn't see that coming!_ Angel thought, shocked. "Evo, are you alright?!" she exclaimed.

Her Monsuno made a warbling sound in response—she was alright. "My darling, so perfect!" the crazy lady cooed. Most likely to her Monsuno. "Strike that feathered freak down!"

One of Angel's eyes twitched at that. Sadly, Evo proved to be very little of a match to Poisonwing—the swan-eagle hybrid was getting thrown around, literally.

A whole segment of her health was taken out, but then two icons appeared right around the outer rim of the health gauge. _That's right!_ "Evo, Lightning Bash!"

Her Monsuno managed to fly in an arc, glowing blue as she did so. She slammed into Poisonwing hard enough to send it flying back. "Learning new tricks, are we?" Crazy-Lady asked rhetorically. "That's a good girl."

The two Monsunos chased each other around for a bit—as it turned out, Poisonwing…hence the name…had wings. Insect wings, but still wings. _That thing's just as fast as Evo is…but I'm not sure if it matches Evo's power…_

* * *

"Tch. Bird-girl's worthless to us dead!" Telegonus exclaimed. "Arg, the cryofreezer—put 'er on ice! Now's our chance."

"Don't need chance," Argius rumbled. "Got me."

* * *

"Evo, hit 'er head on!" Angel cheered. Her Monsuno did as such, quite literally. Poisonwing was sent flying backwards into a wall.

"I love this," Medea exclaimed. "This is the best battle yet!"

At that moment, Angel caught something from someone's else's mind. Not Medea—but someone who worked with her. _Cryofreezer?! CRAG!_

She sent a mental message to Evo, who moved in a blur of feathers, throwing the guy's concentration off just long enough for Angel to kick the cryofreezer out of his hands. Immediately Angel ran for a hallway, calling, "Evo, return!"

Medea screamed in frustration. "After her!" she shrieked.

* * *

Angel kept on running. _Have to get out of here,_ she thought. There was a window just up ahead—but she couldn't fly, because they might see her—

She was jolted from her thoughts when someone grabbed her arm and yanked her into a room, covering her mouth at the same time.  
"Surprise," Jinja said.

"Couldn't sleep?" Bren asked.

Chase, however, reacted totally differently. "Angel, are you crazy?!" he scolded. "I thought something happened to you. I—"

"Slow down Chase!" Angel exclaimed, waving her arms. "I didn't mean to get you guys worried like that…I'm just worried about dad." Very effective way to shut her brother up. "How'd you guys know where I was, anyway?"

"Like it was hard to guess?" Jinja said in a "duh" tone. Angel grinned sheepishly, and was subsequently the center of a four-way group hug.

Until a voice called, "Come out and play, little bird…we haven't finished our battle yet."

Angel felt a surge of panic, and she was aware that the other three had the same thoughts.

_She knows I have wings…?_


	9. Arc I: Wicked, Part II

"Angel?" Chase asked solemnly. "You didn't fly in front of them, did you?"

"No way in heck!" was her immediately response. "I didn't do anything!"

"Then how do they know?!" Bren asked, panicked.

"Well, if they know, they know," Jinja reasoned. "Let's just focus on getting away from here…"

* * *

In the hall, Medea slammed Telegonus against the wall. "Our battle wasn't finished," she said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"M-Medea, I was just getting a bit impatient—I was worrying you'd kill the kid—we'd get chewed out big-time—!"

"Kid ain't far," Argius said.

"Big-'n'-Dense is right, mistress," Latinus said. "It would take hours for her to find her way out of this maze."

Medea let Telegonus go, who said, "He's right—let's just firebomb the place…smoke the brat out."

"Use Monsuno—tear down every wall here. Nowhere to hide," Argius stated bluntly.

"Huh…blunderous," Latinus muttered. "Our Mistress-Queen likes to _savor_ her moments. Why use brute force when we still have the father—Jeredy Suno?"

"Lat, my evil darling," Medea purred. "Do go on."

* * *

They were interrupted by a sudden, familiar voice. "Chase? Angel? I'm here! Help!"

"Dad!" both Chase and Angel exclaimed. "You guys stay here!" Chase said to Bren and Jinja.

"No way, bone-for-brains," Jinja said. "You need backup."

"Uh, it's obviously a trap. Still. Duh!" Bren added. "I mean, hello!"

"Yeah, and we're still going out there," Angel said.

"Trap or not," Chase continued.

"But we'd appreciate it if—"

"You guys came in—"

"Five minutes, or so?"

* * *

The voice was getting louder. With both of them looking, it wouldn't take much longer…

Finally they hit a room. They ran in, in battle mode, only to find…a hologram that spoke.

"Oh no," Chase murmured.

"To use a missing father as bait," Medea said, coming out from the shadows. "Imagine that."

The two Sunos backed up a few steps. Angel looked—two of the other guys were at the door, which had been closed.

"Lat here is a prodigy," Medea went on. "Amazing what he can do with a simple production-line beatbox." She handed said item to a blond guy.

"You're too kind, Mistress-Queen," he said.

_"Suck-up,"_ Angel remarked mentally to Chase.

Chase didn't reply to her, instead saying, "Where's—our—father?"

"He was never here, boy," Medea said. "Your father means nothing to me. I never even met the man. But…he was quite useful as a worm dangling from a hook."

Latinus tapped a key on the beatbox, and the message that had been sent to the Core-Tablet played out. _It _was_ fake!_ Angle thought, horrified.

"Fathers, sons, and daughters…how adorable!" Medea said in a high-pitched tone, laughing along with the other guy. Angel felt Chase tense beside her—boy was he angry. She was too. "All coming together now, yes? The combat manual—my gift to you both! To help you become the best possible opponents for me…" The three of them began circling each other. "How magnificent!"

_Angel, what's her name?_ Chase thought to her.

_"Medea."_

_Alright. Ang, I got this one._ "Medea, right? Are you gonna keep talking for another hour, or are we gonna fight?"

For a moment she looked put-off that Chase knew her name, but then she just sent Poisonwing out. Chase retaliated immediately with Lock.

Immediately the polar-bear Monsuno came down on the cobra-Monsuno's back. "This time it's a fight to the finished—not interrupted, like the one with your dear sister," Medea said.

"Fine by me, Your Weirdness!" Chase responded.

Poisonwing grabbed one of Lock's arms with its tail, slamming him into the wall. After that she took flight, spitting some kind of purple-colored spike at Lock—who got out of the way just in time before the spike impaled itself in the wall. "Fanged Attack!" Medea said. Poisonwing promptly bit Lock hard. "You really shouldn't make it mad, you know."

"She," Angel corrected under her breath.

"Oh yeah?" Chase said. "Lock, Elemental Armor!" The blue crystals on Lock shone brightly, and he grabbed Poisonwing by her hood before throwing her nice and hard. "Way to go Lock!"

"Something I forgot to tell you, boy," Medea said. "I don't like losing. So sometimes if the moment calls for it…I cheat!"

As if on cue, the three other guys—Latinus, Telegonus, and Argius—all spun out a core as well. Angel gasped, and exclaimed, "Evo, launch!" The four cores collided in a tornado of blue and red, yet no purple. Her swan-eagle hybrid was airborne instantly. Lock bashed Telegonus's Monsuno—Spikebat—in the face hard.

Evo dive-bombed Latinus's Monsuno—Spiderwolf—at the same time, only to be knocked aside by Argius's Monsuno, Moonfire.

"Vocal Assault!" Latinus shouted. Spiderwolf let out an ear-piercing howl. The force of it sent both Core-Tech Monsunos flying.

"All of my lovelies having fun!" Medea purred. "What a beautiful day. Sorry Chase, not for you of course. Or for little Angel there."

"Medea, there's something you should know about us," Angel said. "One, I'm nowhere close to little, and two, it's not just us."

At that moment, both Nightstone and Quickforce broke through the wall. "Okay Nightstone, go get 'em!" Bren said. The jackal-panther hybrid growled.

"Quickforce, let's do this," Jinja said. Quickforce made a sound like a cross between a horse's whinny and a bird's screech.

After that it was Evo against Spikebat, Nightstone against Spiderwolf, and Quickforce against Moonfire. Lock was confronting Poisonwing outside.

"Stasis Sting!" Medea shouted, and again Poisonwing shot that strange purple spike from its mouth toward Lock.

"Elemental Armor!" Chase said quickly, and just in time—the shield disintegrated the spike. He followed up with "Power Harness!"

Chase quickly decided that the said move was drastic measures only. What, with how it totally obliterated the ground. The debris that was knocked into the air was actually enough to take Poisonwing out of it.

"What in the world?!" Medea exclaimed, looking honest-to-goodness shocked. "I…lost!"

As if in reply, Lock gave a victorious roar.

Inside, the fight had quickly turned to the four friend's side. It wasn't long until Moonfire, Spiderwolf, and Spikebat were all sent back into their cores. Their controllers ran out immediately after, looking beat—literally.

"Letting me down, boys!" Medea scolded.

"Sorry Your Majesty," Latinus panted. _Still a suck-up._

Chase turned to see Angel, Bren, and Jinja walk out, although they were coughing a bit from dust and all that stuff. "Guys, you're alright!" Chase exclaimed, running toward them. Again, a four-way group hug.

"Piece of cake," Jinja said in an it-was-no-problem tone.

"Let's get out of here—Lock, return!" The bear Monsuno complied.

But rights as they were about to get running, Medea spoke up. "Boy—Chase, wait." She threw something toward them—the modified beatbox. "Here little one—for giggles. You've earned it."

That, unfortunately, wasn't the end of it. She then blew a kiss at him. All four teens gagged.

* * *

"That was just wrong. Just—wrong," Angel said for the fifth time.

"I second that emotion!" Bren agreed.

"You know what—here B, you keep it." Chase tossed the beatbox back to the glasses-wearing teen.

He stopped. "Sweetness on a stick!"

Angel rolled her eyes, glancing at Jinja, who said nothing. _She's upset about something…I wonder if…?_

* * *

Later, they stopped at a roadside. "I've been doing a little tinkering on this beatbox," Bren said. "Simple really."

"Uh, _we've_ been tinkering?" Jinja corrected. "And we figured out how they sent that message! _Editing_!"

"Editing?" Chase repeated simultaneously with Angel.

Jinja tapped a key, causing three holograms to come up. "Here's what we can tell. Here's a series of messages your father sent out over a period of the last six months to—"

"Jon Ace," Angel said, looking up.

"Yeah. Splice a word from here and there, and bam, you've got a totally new message!"

The three videos played out: _"Jon, I'm suggesting we shut this entire Monsuno operation down. It's far too dangerous."_

"_How did Charlemagne find out about that? The experiment wasn't even half finished—I hadn't filed my report! I don't think this line is secure anymore…meet me at the following coordinates…_"

So on and so forth.

"Who's Charlemagne?" Bren asked.

"Don't know…but whoever that person is, I don't like them already."

"Well whoever he or she is, I'll tell you one thing they aren't ready for—us. From now on, we're playing in the big leagues!"

* * *

"DarkSpin…probably been using this abandoned facility as a base for years," Jon Ace said.

"DarkSpin doesn't come cheap, either," Trey said. "Who would hire expensive mercs to snatch the kids? Or know how to access Suno's old files? That transmission had me fooled…" He punched the wall in anger.

"Who? It can only be one person…"


	10. Arc I: Knowledge, Part I

A bright light in a dark room.

The planet ending in a burst of green light.

Four Monsunos—Lock, Nightstone, Quickforce, and Evo.

Four controllers—Chase Suno, Bren Rainier, Jinja Blackwell, and Angel Suno…or Ride.

The visions faded almost as soon as they had come. The boy who had seen the vision narrowed his gray eyes. _They have come…_

* * *

"Why can't snow be warm?" Jinja complained.

"Jin, I warned you to dress warm!" Chase said.

"Yeah, but our stuff is just so itchy!"

Angel sighed. _Typical Jinja._ "Nice to see Jinja actually has a weak spot!" Bren said. He shuddered when the girl gave him an ice-dagger glare. "But—I mean, it'll all be worth it when we reach the Library of Tebab. It's supposed to be amazing!"

"Amazing my foot," Jinja muttered.

"Aw c'mon Jinja! You of all people—I thought you'd love the idea of going to a library. You're always telling us to read more…or, to just _read_."

"Yeah, read books from libraries where it's _warm_, and not _freezing_!"

"The cold isn't so bad," Angel said. "You just have to get used to it."

"Says the girl with a normal temperature of 100.2 degrees?" Angel snorted.

"Just deal with it, will you?"

She turned around again…only to be hit in the back of the head with a snowball. "Deal with _that_, bird-girl," Jinja said, another one in her hand. She was then hit in the face with one.

"No, you deal with that!" Bren said. He realized his folly. "I mean—oh crag…"

Jinja shook the snow off. "You are _so_ gonna regret that!" She threw hers, but Bren ducked and it hit Chase instead, knocking him down.

After that it was a free-for-all. "Oh, sorry Jin," Chase said while laughing. "Your face got in the way of my snowball!"

"Bring it on Suno!" she retaliated.

While the fight went on, Angel suddenly stiffened, and she looked up. Someone was up there, setting something up…

_BOOM._

All of them immediately jumped, right as a ton of snow came barreling down toward them. "Avalanche!" Chase exclaimed. "Run! Ang, you fly!"

"Right!" She took off. "Guys, use the Monsunos!"

Her three friends complied, but a tad too late—the snow overtook them. Angel gasped. _I hope they're okay…_ She listened carefully. _Chase and Jinja are alright…_ She now saw both of them on their Monsunos. _But where's Bren?_ She mentally voiced her thought to them, and they looked around. "Bren?" Chase called. "Where are you?"

"Over there!" Jinja said.

Nightstone was standing there, looking down at his controller. _He's worried…something's wrong!_ She flew down there, landing. "Bren, are you alright?"

"I…I think my leg's broken…"

"Let me see."

As the others came up beside her, she tapped Bren's right leg. "OW!"

"Yep, that's broken," Jinja said.

"Angel, why'd you have to do that?" Bren whined.

"Sorry!"

Chase looked around. "We gotta move. The library's close by—let's keep using our Monsunos."

* * *

They were all riding Quickforce. Angel was the one scanning the area—she had the best eyesight out of them, after all. "Over there!" she shouted.

There it was, just on the other side of that valley. "We're almost there, Bren," Chase said.

"We better be. My leg's killing me!"

Suddenly Quickforce stopped. "Who's the kid in the robe?" Jinja asked.

"I don't know," Chase replied."

Angel squinted. _What kid? I don't see a—oh._ Now that she looked hard, there was someone standing there. She couldn't really tell if it was a boy or girl, seeing as whoever it was wore a cloak. The person had white hair, and tanned skin.

Chase jumped down. "Jin, Ang, get Bren to the library."

"Uh-uh, I'm staying with you," Angel said, sliding down.

"Oh fine. Jin, get moving!"

"Right!" Quickforce took off.

Angel took a few steps forward. "Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want?"

The kid didn't reply. Instead, he held up a core. A blue core. A Core-Tech core. "I got this," Chase said, taking out Lock.

"Glowblade, launch!" the kid—boy, she now knew—exclaimed, spinning his core out.

"Lock, launch!" Chase exclaimed in reply, doing the same. The two cores collided in a flash of blue. Lock materialized with a roar. The boy's Monsuno did as well—a three-headed snake that reminded her of a hydra, with spider legs positioned like arms.

The fight didn't even get to start, however, as the boy suddenly glared. _Who's he angry at? _Angel turned her head. Jinja had come back, without Bren—but with four other people. "Chase, Angel, we've got your back," their friend said.

Angel turned again. "Glowblade, return!" the white-haired boy exclaimed. As soon as his Monsuno was in its core, he turned and ran.

"Hey wait!" Angel shouted, running after him.

"Angel?!" Chase exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" she called back, still running. _I can't lose sight of him!_ Boy, was that kid fast. Angel nearly lost him a few times. She managed to glean a few things from his mind, however. So she knew where he was going. Smirking, she spread her wings and jumped into the air, hiding on a ledge. The boy paused, and looked behind him, seeing that she wasn't there. Relief passed through him like a cool breeze on a hot day.

Angel frowned. _Weird. I've never been able to tell what someone was _feeling_ from their minds…_ She shook her head to clear her thoughts, jumping into the air again. Her shadow passed over him, and he looked up—

Just as she landed in front of him. He gasped loudly, stumbling backwards in shock. _Whoops…Chase isn't gonna be happy with me. Oh well._ "So," she said, folding her wings slightly. "Why did you sic your Monsuno on us and then run?"

He kept staring for a few moments, before he looked to the side. "I needed to know if it was really you," he said cryptically.

"Pardon? …oh forget it. What's your name?"

He glanced sideways at her. "My name is Beyal. I was unaware that you had a bird's wings, Angel."

"You know my name?"

"I know many things, including this—your brother and friends are in grave danger."

"_What_?" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?!" She dashed forward and grabbed his arm, ignoring his surprised ex. "Come on—we have to save them!"

* * *

Beyal did indeed know many things—but the fact that Angel Suno had _wings_ had eluded him. _Had I not paid close enough attention in my vision?_ He mulled this over while meditating.

They were waiting until nightfall—Angel was supremely impatient. Currently she was throwing her core up and down. "So your Monsuno's name is Glowblade?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes," he replied, unfazed.

"Oh. Mine's name is Evo. My dad gave her to me."

It took a few moments for Beyal to realize what she had said. "Her?" he repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah. They aren't just monsters, you know. They're like people—they have human-like minds. I know because I can read minds." She blinked with only one eye at him. He replied with a blank look. She gave one in return. "I take it you haven't been out much."

"Oh no—I have never left Mandala."

"What?!" Quieter, she muttered, "Talk about isolation." Then she asked, "Why did you run from those guys, anyway?"

Beyal flinched slightly at a quick memory—not a good one. "I will explain later," he said quietly, turning away.

"…alright."

* * *

Night finally fell. Angel silently and carefully flew around the library's perimeter, keeping an eye out for any sentries. Anyone who saw her would think she was a large bird, most likely.

Deeming it safe, she flew to where Beyal was waiting, near the side of one of the library's outer walls. "This way," he said, tapping one stone—and a portion of the wall turned like a door.

She folded her wings and followed silently through a dark hall. She actually crashed into him when he stopped, and he tapped on another stone. Another piece of the wall slid to the side, and Beyal greeted the occupants of the room with a simple, "Hello."

Angel poked her head in as well, to see her brother and two friends in a cell. "Guys!" she exclaimed. "You're okay!"

"Angel!" Chase ran forward as much as he could. "You're alright! And…why are you with him?"

"Don't worry—Beyal's a friend."

"Beyal?" Bren and Jinja repeated.

Said boy spoke up again, "I can help you retrieve your cores and escape. But you must trust me."

"Is it me or does he talk funny?" Bren whispered.

_"Bren, shut up,"_ Angel said mentally to him. He flinched a bit in response. At Beyal's clueless look, she said, "I can talk to people with my mind too, you know."

"Angel!" Chase sounded shocked.

"I trust him," she responded sweetly.

He grumbled something in response. "Well," Chase said finally. "We thought you were bad, and nasty bookworm was good. Time we rethink everything, I guess…"

"What does that mean exactly?" Beyal asked.

"It means if you can get us out of here, then we trust you."

Angel nodded. "Alright, stand back." Her friends and brother did as such.

"Angel, what are you doing?" Beyal was terribly confused.

"Just watch me." She grabbed onto the door's bars, and _yanked_. Within three strained seconds, the door popped off its hinges. She put it onto the wall, saying, "Who's the best?"

"You are," Chase said, grinning like an idiot.

Beyal was mystified. _"I'll tell you about it later,"_ Angel told him mentally. That only added to it.


	11. Arc I: Knowledge, Part II

"Are we there yet?" Bren asked as they went down a hall lit only by torches on the wall. "It's really creepy in here!"

"Bren, just chill," Jinja said. "I'll hold your hand, okay?"

"Beyal, your core—your Monsuno. It's _blue_—it's Core-Tech! How did you get it?"

"From my master," the boy replied cryptically.

"My dad?"

"Not your father. My master is very small, and very, very old. And very, very wise. I will take you all to meet him as soon as we obtain your cores."

They came to an open room that was full of books. In a glass case was an assortment of cores—a few red ones, a few yellow ones (although how whoever this "bookman" got STORM cores, Angel would never know), and three blue Core-Tech cores.

But as soon as they got near the case, electric lights suddenly came on, and Angel was aware of people behind them. She turned as one with the others. "Thank you, my young friends," a man with ragged black hair said. "You've been most useful in luring that nasty little monk out of hiding." Angel immediately hated him when he added, "Now you can all perish together!" Now he focused on Beyal. "Where's the old man? Where have you two been hiding? Tell me, you little bratty thief!"

"It is you who are the thief," Beyal retaliated. "You stole this place, and desecrated these great halls of knowledge."

Bookman laughed. "Keep your dusty old scrolls and books. They're useful and relevant as the dust that covers them! The only knowledge that matters now, is that of Monsunos. We are on the verge of a new era—anad I will not be left in the dark, I will know all, and I will be all-powerful!"

"Crazy," Chase commented.

"Totally," Jinja agreed.

"Be ready," he whispered. "I have an idea."

"Monsunos will reshape this world," Bookman continued ranting. "And whoever understands them and controls them has the ultimate knowledge! And with that knowledge comes true power!"

Strangely, Angel felt like she knew speeches like this from somewhere.

Bookman continued ranting. "Adding the cores of Jeredy Suno to my collection will make me the most powerful man on the planet!"

"Bren, you take the guard," Chase whispered. "Jinja, Angel, the bookshelf. Now!"

Moving quick, Bren allowed himself to fall onto the guard, sending them both down. Meanwhile Chase, Angel, and Jinja both tried to knock a bookshelf onto the case. "Stop them!" Bookman yelled.

Beyal leaped over another guard to help—and it was enough.

_Domino effect! _Angel thought in triumph as the one bookshelf knocked all of the others down—one landing on the case and smashing it. "Jinja, get Bren out of here!" she yelled, basing her words on her foster brother's thoughts. The auburn-haired girl nodded and complied, while Chase, Beyal, and Angel reclaimed the cores.

Boy was Bookman angry. "You fools don't stand a chance!" he said, holding up a red core. "With the knowledge I've acquired, I will make quick work of you—Librax, launch!"

The three teens retaliated by sending their cores out in turn. The four smacked against each other in the center of the room with a blue-and-red flash. Angel wasn't exactly sure what to call Librax.

Glowblade lunged at the red Monsuno—she knew Librax well, and hated him. Glowblade bit down with all three heads hard. Lock lunged at Librax, aiming for his head, but he somehow twisted out of Glowblade's grip. In response the three-headed snake shot multiple bursts of energy at Librax, but he dodged all of them somehow.

Evo swooped in, matching Librax's speed almost. The swan-eagle hybrid grabbed Librax's tail in her talons, and swung it onto some debris. We've got your back, Beyal, Angel told the monk mentally. _"Don't worry."_ He stiffened slightly before nodding.

"Your little tag-team game still won't save you!" Bookman taunted. To his Monsuno, he ordered, "Blazing Bullets!" The horns on Librax's head glew brightly red, and an orb of red plasma energy formed between them. It flung the orb at Glowblade, who simply made a shield.

Chase glanced at his core simultaneously with Angel. "Lock, Inner Shine!" he said simultaneously with Angel's "Evo, Crystal Charge!"

The two Monsunos charged at Librax, Evo flying directly over Lock, both of them having blue energy acting as shields in front of them—and rams. Unfortunately Librax dodged it somehow.

_That should've connected!_ Chase thought.

"My Monsuno is too powerful and quick for yours, Chase and Angel Suno," Bookman said.

"Yes, but it is the arrogance of men that causes their legs to turn to stone and anchor them to one place," Beyal said. Angel didn't know what he meant by it, and she was actually caught off-guard when Beyal followed up with, "Electric Barrage!"

Glowblade attacked immediately. Amazingly one hit. "The little monk has the Monsuno Sight!" Bookman exclaimed quietly. "The connection…not good. Time to raise the stakes…"

He ran over to a column and pressed a few…buttons? Lock charged at Librax, but a pillar actually rose from the ground in front of him. This unfortunately provided a window for the red Monsuno to attack. More pillars rose around Glowblade, but she simply maneuvered up them like poles…until Librax demolished the pillars.

"The path of the devious—" Beyal started.

"Only leads to retribution," Angel finished, knowing what it meant. _Revenge!_

If Beyal was startled, he didn't show it. "Bookman, you are unworthy to control a Monsuno."

"Blah, blah, blah, you know nothing of true Monsuno battle, you live in your forgotten ways, little monk. You have no idea what the true power of Monsunos can do!"

"I think I have an idea, Mr. Freakman," Chase said in typical insultingness. "Check what Lock can do—Energy Wave!"

The polar-bear Monsuno snarled loudly as all the crystals on him glew brightly. Beams of light shot from them, smashing anything they came into contact with—many being columns. "WHAT?!" Bookman shouted.

"The light!" Beyal exclaimed in surprise. "The light of my vision!" Angel didn't know what he meant by that—but she had a feeling she'd learn.

"Beyal, let's finish this," Chase said.

"Yes…and with this ending, a new beginning."

Librax began charging his attack. "Glowblade, Electric Barrage!" Beyal exclaimed.

"Lock, Grappling Blast!" Chase followed up.

"Evo, Shock Wing!" Angel finished.

Glowblade's and Evo's attacks canceled Librax's out, allowing Lock to go in…and deal a direct blow. Librax was knocked right into a wall.

"The Bookman has caused great pain and suffering to so many," Beyal said.

"He's all yours Snowy," Angel said, winking.

"Glowblade, Streaking Blades!" the monk followed up with.

The attack was somewhat of a surprise—what had seemed like spider-legs on Glowblade were actually blades—hence her name. They were also capable of being shot like projectiles.

Librax didn't stand a chance—he instantly reverted into essence, which shot into his core.

The three Monsunos all gave victorious cries before being returned to their cores. "That was wicked, Beyal!" Chase exclaimed. "You were almost like Angel with that! The mind-reading part, I mean."

"Not your mind, Chase Suno. But come, while we still have time to escape! Let us find Jinja and Bren, and leave this place!"

* * *

Beyal led them to a hidden, temple-like place. There was a short, ancient-looking guy with deep-green eyes waiting for them. He also had a strange symbol on his forehead. Angel was put off by the fact that he was one of the few people that were immune to her mind-reading.

He nodded to them, saying, "Welcome. I am glad you are safe. Chase, Angel, your father was here, some time ago…he left the core that I gave to Beyal. I do not know where he is now." Angel expected that part. "We will speak of it…but not now. First…Bren, let us see to your leg."

"How did you know my name?" Bren asked.

"Master Ey knows many things," Beyal said. "Many more than I do. Trust me."

Beyal walked over to one of the windows. "We…are the only monks left from the Library of Tebab," he said slowly, his tone betraying sadness. Angel could practically feel it—like rain. It was overrun by the one who calls himself…the Bookman."

"What happened to everyone else?" Jinja asked. Angel already knew the answer to that.

Beyal answered: "He destroyed every monk he could find…including my parents…" He paused for a minute. Then he added, "We were the only ones to escape to this hidden monastery."

Angel looked down. Some subconscious part of her sympathized with him. "Yikes Beyal," Chase muttered. "I'm—sorry to hear that. To tell you the truth, I…never knew my mom." True—Angel had never known her would-have-been foster mother.

Then Beyal completely turned the conversation around. "Chase Suno, I hereby pledge my services to you, and your cause," he said.

"I have a cause?" Chase asked stupidly.

"Apparently," Jinja said, shrugging.

"Alright then…Beyal, high-five!" Chase waited for it…and only got a blank stare in return. "…never mind…we'll work on that one." Beyal looked in a confused manner at Jinja, who simply smiled. Angel grinned as well. _Look at that. Another friend._

* * *

"Those fools!" Bookman ranted. "Those _ignorant_ fools! It is obvious that those two Monsunos, Lock and Evo, are the linchpins! I must have them—I must control them!" His voice steadily increased in volume. "And if neither Chase or Angel recognize this as my destiny, then I shall destroy them!"


	12. Arc I: Breakthrough, Part I

Another day, another donut.

Another day, another Monsuno fight against STORM.

_What can a bird-girl do to catch a break?_ Angel thought wearily as Evo rammed Skysite. The four-headed snake-like Monsuno really had it out for her swan-eagle hybrid. Probably from night one, now that she thought about it.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'd kill for a taxi to the airport right about now!" Bren shouted, right before being tackled to the ground by Beyal—in order to avoid an attack from Skysite.

"Airport?" Beyal repeated, looking incredulous. "This area of Mandala has no airports, my friend. The mountains are too tall!"

"Still?" Angel exclaimed. They had just gotten out of the areas that had snow, so the air was slightly warmer…which was probably why there was no snow. The mountains were still very tall.

Beyal continued. "And…what is a taxi?"

"Crag, we're way out of our element here!" Chase exclaimed. "How did STORM even find us?!"

_"Chase, we blew up part of the Library of Tebab,"_ Angel told him mentally at the same time as Jinja out-loud.

"Not exactly under-the-radar kind of behavior," Jinja put in. To her Monsuno, she added, "Quickforce, ram it!" The antelope-raven hybrid charged at Crossbolt, managing to overpower it. "Way to go Quickforce!"

Skysite lunged at Evo, who swooped down low. Chase, now! Angel told her foster brother.

"Lock!" he exclaimed in turn. The polar-bear Monsuno ran forward—only to take an attack right in the face.

"These STORM Elites are…what is the word?" Beyal asked.

"A pain in my core," Chase said. Angel knew he wanted to use a different word…because that's what he did mentally, though he didn't out-loud for Beyal's sake. "And this is a _recon_ patrol, for crying out loud! We can take them!"

"Uh, guys?" Bren suddenly said, sounding worried as usual. "We got company!" There was a swarm of black…things…coming toward them.

_"Oh, you are KIDDING me!"_ Angel exclaimed to all her friends mentally—she was beginning to like doing that. It was a metaphorical ton of Hoppers and other airborne transports. She cleared her mind, listening to any thoughts she could pick up. "Trey," she said, summing it up. "And his mobile command. You guys _don't_ wanna know how many soldiers are in there, trust me."

"And I bet you none of 'em are friendly!" Bren said.

"There is a time for fighting, and a time for retreating," Beyal put in. "I suggest we do the latter."

Chase was silent a minute. Then he said, "Unless you're hiding a back door in your pocket, Beyal, we're finished."

"I was born in these mountains, Chase Suno. I know their strengths…and weaknesses." He looked up. "Glowblade, Sonic Mind-Scream!"

In response, his Monsuno let out three ear-piercing shrieks as energy charged up, and then was shot at two different mountain peaks. Said mountains became few-thousand feet shorter, as their peaks were literally sliced off—and tumbled into the valley the oncoming STORM vehicles were in.

The other four were shell-shocked-silent. "You know, I'm starting to like him," Jinja remarked in an awed tone of voice.

* * *

As soon as the Cloud-Hopper landed, Trey asked, "Have you found them?"

"No sir," a soldier reported. "There's no sign of them."

"Well, we can't allow them to escape! No one's getting in or out of these mountains!"

* * *

"This is bad," Bren said, looking through his high-tech binoculars. "Very, very, _very_ bad. They've blocked off a whole section of mountains!"

"I know," Angel moaned. "It'd be easy for me to get out—but I'd have to go back and forth carrying you guys. And that'd be a bit obvious."

Bren handed the binoculars to Beyal, who looked through them. "Yes, indeed they have. Most troubling…if your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him."

Angel knew where that was from—Jinja always ranted about the particular book it was from. "Finally, someone who's actually read a book!" said girl exclaimed.

"Uh, maybe we should stop worrying about who's read what, and maybe, just maybe, take a gander at the fact that we have _no way to get out of Mandala_!"

Jinja frowned at realizing. Then the surprise: "That's good, because we're _not_ leaving Mandala. Not yet," Chase said. He looked up from the compass/map. "We're heading east. Into the eastern expanse of canyons."

"What? Why?" Bren asked.

"Because when I put these things side-by-side, it was like they were talking to each other."

"Interfacing."

"Yeah, that. And the compass told the Core-Tablet that my dad went east! See?" Angel leaned over. _Yeah, he's right!_ There was a whole highlighted path on the digital map. "Right through the Canyon of the Shooting Star. We have to go that way!"

Beyal apparently begged to differ. "The eastern expanse is the very heart of the canyons. Very treacherous, especially with the spring thaws on the way. If the STORM forces wished to trap us, that would be the ideal place."

"If you ask me—and I notice you haven't—I say we hide and think of another way around the blockade! A _safer _way!"

"Guys," Angel said. "If there's even a chance that my dad went east, then that's where we're going! You should know that by now—especially you guys!" The last part was directed at Bren and Jinja.

"And what does your Monsuno feel you should do?" Beyal suddenly asked. _Jeez he's unpredictable…even to me!_ Angel thought before processing what he said.

"Huh, Lock?" Chase said, taking the core out. "He's…not exactly the talkative type."

"You are wrong Chase," Beyal said. "A Monsuno is always communicating with his controller, yet without words. Words are merely sounds given to pictures. The language of Monsunos runs deeper, through subconscious to most…" Perplexed, Angel took out Evo's core and studied it. _I've gotten along just fine talking mentally with Evo…but not everyone can do that._ _It would be useful if the others learned a way to do it…_

Bren and Jinja were looking at their cores as well. "The bond a controller shares with their Monsuno is absolute, until the controller's departure from this plane of life. They are always speaking to their controller, even when in their cores. You can hear them, if you know how to listen. It is destiny—the Destiny of the Five Tribes."

"Huh?" Angel, Jinja, and Chase questioned at the same time as Bren's "The what?"

"Uh, look Beyal," Chase started, "I know you're trying to help in your own way, but I-I need to look for my dad. End of story. It's simple—I plan to control my own destiny, Beyal. We're heading east, whether you're coming or not."

"I second that emotion," Bren said, to everyone else' surprise. The sudden burst of courage in him almost made Angel jump. It was just so unfamiliar from _Bren_, of all people! At seeing their expressions, he said, "What? The man makes a good speech."

Angel said, "No freaking question." She stood by Chase.

Jinja sighed, before saying, "I think you're nuts Chase, but I've followed you this far. And I'm ridiculously past the point of no return now."

"As you say," were Beyal's only words on the matter.

* * *

Later, they inched slowly along a small ledge—except for Angel, who simply flew. She was aware that Beyal often glanced at her—he was simply amazed at the fact that she had wings. Heck, Bren and Jinja had done the same thing for _months_ after they first learned.

Bren stiffened when the ledge crumbled slightly beneath him. "Do we have to go this way?! Why can't we use the Monsunos?"

"Keep moving, Bren. We can't use the Monsunos—it'd be a dead-giveaway."

Angel squinted against the wind. _Yikes…strong wind. _She angled her wings slightly so that she was slowly moving forward—a trick she learned from a book. It was titled "crabbing" since it moved sideways like a crab.

After the ledge came a bridge. "You have got to be kidding," Bren deadpanned.

"This is it," Chase exclaimed. "This is the route." He took one step—and the plank he stepped on snapped. "Uh…just watch your step."

"Chase," Jinja started. "There's normal-crazy, then there's you-crazy, then there's Angel-crazy, (Angel: "Hey!") and then there's where you are now! _Beyond_ crazy!"

Chase looked at her. "One rotten plank and you guys are all weak in the knees. Come on!"

"Your friend certainly is…determined," Beyal remarked to Bren and Jinja before following. The other two exchanged a quick look before doing the same.

Angel shook her head, following. _I've done more dangerous…_ She frowned, looking up at two birds. _Haven't I?_ Then she realized—those weren't birds. Guys…look up!

They did—right as they were fired at. The bridge swung dangerously; almost knocking the five of them clean off. "Hang onto something everyone!" Chase warned, taking his pocketknife out. The fighters banked around for another go. "Hang on!" The other four did as such…

The fighters fired…

…and Chase cut the rope.

The bridge immediately fell into two pieces, all of them on—the wrong side. _Just great!_ Chase thought. Angel looked up. The fighters were still coming at them. _Crag!_ she thought. Then an idea struck her. She looked down—there was a river below. "Everyone," she said. "Let go, _NOW!_"

For some reason she did not understand, all of them did—at the exact same time. "Why did I do that?" Bren screamed.

As they were falling, Angel exclaimed, "Evo, launch!" and threw her core. As soon as she came out, Evo immediately and literally smashed the fighters against the cliff, leaving the pilots stuck—and alive, luckily.

"Way to go Evo!" Bren exclaimed from the river. Angel, meanwhile, had spread her wings to stop her from falling.

"Evo, return!" Her swan-eagle hybrid did as told, and she steadily flew above her brother and friends. "So!" she said, grinning. "How was that, Jinja?"

"That, my feathered friend, was the good kind of crazy," she responded.

"Aw crag, we're going the wrong way," Chase exclaimed. "C'mon—we have to swim!"

"The current is too strong my friend," Beyal said. "You will never overcome it."

"Beyal's right," Jinja said. "We can't get back there."

"_Can't_ isn't really big in my vocabulary," Chase said with a smirk. For a millisecond, Angel thought she saw her friend blush a little.

"Nor should it be," Beyal said. "But perhaps now, it is time to go with the flow."

Angel looked ahead—and frowned. _Weird…why does it drop off like that? Almost like a—OH (BLEEP)!_ _"Guys!"_ she shrieked mentally, causing them all to flinch hard. _"There's a freaking _waterfall_!"_

_WHAT?!_ Chase, Bren, and Jinja all thought/screamed at the same time. Below, all four of them desperately tried to swim, but to no avail.

Panicking, Angel swooped down—

Right as they all went over.

* * *

Thank God that cavern was there. And that the drop wasn't too-too bad. Still hurt seriously on impact, but nothing was broken. It was a good thing there was a small cavern behind the waterfall as well. Angel sighed. "Those Cloud-Hoppers completely missed us," she said. "Lucky this cave was here, right?"

"In my experience, Angel, there is no such thing as luck," Beyal said. "Only destiny. All things conspire to fulfill it."

"_All _things? Really?" Chase asked, exasperated. "Like you sending us over a freaking _waterfall_?!"

"Calm down Chase," Angel said immediately, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Beyal just probably forgot it was there."

"I did not forget it was there, Angel Suno," the monk said. _Aaaand he ruined it._

"Chase, you never asked me what Glowblade shows me when I speak to…" He glanced at Angell, who supplied "her." He nodded. "I see five brave young warriors and one guardian. We are four of the warriors, and the one guardian."

"Huh. There's only five of us right now—and really it should only be four of us! Always! You know, our 'four musketeers'! We don't need a fifth, or a sixth!" He was shushed by Jinja.

"Control is an illusion, Chase," Beyal continued. "You cannot control your destiny. But you _can _if you choose."

Chase gained a blank look for a few moments, as did Angel. Then, in the next second, both of them choked. Angel thought that one of them made some kind of weird, strangled sound, and then a blinding, stunning pain exploded behind their eyes—Angel knew both of them because she felt it from Chase as well.

Something was horribly wrong.


	13. Arc I: Breakthrough, Part II

Neither of them could speak, think, or even do a thing. Dimly Angel heard their friends shouting their names, and that someone was shaking her, but she didn't really process it. In fact, the only semicoherent thought that both of them shared was _Please oh please just make this stupid pain just freaking STOP already!_

Angel wasn't sure how long it lasted. All she knew was that slowly the pain ebbed, and she managed to pry an eye open. She immediately saw Bren and Beyal staring at her, eyes wide with worry. Bren looked absolutely freaked. "Angel, what was that?!" he asked shakily.

"Angel, please…" Beyal started, eyes wide and face scared. "I do not understand what just occurred." Off to the side, Jinja was tending to Chase, who was in a similar state to Angel.

"Chase?" Jinja asked, sounding just as frightened as Bren.

"I…I'm okay Jin," he murmured, trying to stand, only to fall back. _I think we both had a stroke or something,_ he remarked mentally to Angel.

_"I know…"_ She didn't know why, but this felt familiar somehow.

"Alright, we're staying here for a while," Jinja said. "Maybe we'll have a better chance of getting by the blockade then. No arguing!" The last part was directly firmly at Chase, who flinched a bit—whatever that was, now they both had a grenade-type headache.

* * *

Both Chase and Angel were asleep within a minute. No duh, with…_whatever_ they just went through. Jinja sighed a bit. Bren was doing something with the Core-Tablet, and Beyal was meditating. It was all quiet, except for the waterfall.

She glanced at her two sleeping friends. _I hope they aren't sick or anything…I've never seen anything like it. And I don't think Beyal knows anything either…or Bren._ She shuddered. _Hopefully it won't happen again…hopefully._

* * *

Angel woke up very suddenly, as did Chase. They both felt that they had recovered from whatever in the heck happened earlier.

It wasn't exactly dawn yet. The others had all dozed off, so Angel did her standard mental wake-up call—the one you could not ignore. Although they were protesting.

"Guys, I had an epiphany," Angel said. "We tackle the blockade head-on."

"Are you crazy?!" Bren immediately shouted. "We'll be captured, or worse—killed!"

"I know it sounds like that B," Chase admitted. "But it's the only way! Trey's too cocky to see it coming, trust me on that! It's dangerous, but it's our best option. It's…and I can't believe I'm saying this, but…"

"Don't say it," Bren said.

"It's our destiny," Angel finished, smirking.

"Didn't I just say don't say it?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a STORM base, something crucial was noted. "There is a perfect flaw in Commander Trey's plan," Charlemagne mused. To a soldier, she ordered, "Ready my personal Cloud-Hopper. I'm going out there."

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

The part of the blockade they were charging was a bit of a valley between a high cliff and a steep drop. "Every unit is on the field, sir!" a soldier reported. "No gaps or breaks present in the line!"

No sooner did the soldier finish his sentence did an explosion sound. Trey flinched, and ran out…and was in for a big surprise.

Lock literally punched through one H-Tram, while Nightstone clawed another open. Near the flames, Quickforce landed. "Great, it's working!" Chase exclaimed. "We have to get through!"

As they flew over, Chase and Bren called their Monsunos back.

They would have kept going…if Trey wasn't standing there, an extremely-ticked look on his face. "You punks aren't going anywhere—I have orders to take you dead or alive. Right now, I don't care which." In response to the threat, Chase jumped down simultaneously with Angel.

"We got this loser," Angel said.

"You guys make sure there's a backdoor out of this party," Chase added. The other three nodded, and with Jinja's word, Quickforce took off—a bunch of soldiers chasing after them.

"You might as well give up now, Sunos," Trey taunted.

"No way," Chase said, spinning Lock out. Angel did the same with Evo. "If anything, _you_ should be giving up—you're outnumbered!" He was wrong—Trey sent out Riccoshot and Airchopper. _Maybe not,_ Chase thought.

The four cores collided in a blinding flash of blue and yellow. The fight started immediately—Airchopper flew at Evo, but Angel's swan-eagle hybrid dodge it with grace. Lock stopped Riccoshot's attack just as easily. "Lock, Grappling Blast!" Chase ordered. The polar-bear Monsuno managed to actually pick Riccoshot up and throw it right into Airchopper. Said Monsuno immediately returned to its core.

"What the—that's not possible!" the commander exclaimed.

Then a new voice cut in. "Stand down, Commander Trey. I've got zhis." A Cloud-Hopper landed, and Angel blinked a few times. _Who's she supposed to be?_ The bird-girl studied the lady's thoughts for a bit, and her eyes widened. _Wait—_that's _Charlemagne?!_

Trey's words confirmed it. "Commandant-Marshal Charlemagne, I didn't know you were coming out here…"

She ignored him. "Chase and Angel Suno…you've given my men quite zhe adventure. But zhis party is _over_." She held up a core.

A more familiar voice cut in. "No, it is not over yet." _Beyal!_ Said monk immediately spun out Glowblade.

"Do not overestimate your chances of success…merely because zhere are three of you," Charlemagne said quietly. Angel heard the threat in it. "You cannot possible hope to wind…because I and I alone control Driftblade." _Her Monsuno!_

Without warning, she threw the core…up. As they watched, the Commandant-Marshal actually used a whip to spin the core out.

The core tapped against a rock, and there was a flash of yellow. Angel's eyes widened. _That Monsuno—!_ It was one of the two she had seen on that very first day, in that weird vision she had.

"Driftblade, clear the room," the lion-Monsuno's controller ordered calmly. Immediately Driftblade shot a blast of electricity at their Monsunos. Lock jumped to the side and Evo flew upwards, and Glowblade formed a shield—which failed. The three-headed snake fell to the ground.

"That thing is—it's…" Chase stammered.

"As fast as it is deadly," Beyal finished quietly. "We must use more caution."

"Chase!" Jinja called. "We're coming to help!"

Quickforce put himself between Lock and Driftblade's oncoming attack, putting up a shield. It held, but it obviously was tiring.

"I see you have more company," Charlemagne observed. "Still, you cannot win. Driftblade, Burst Barrage!" she ordered.

The Monsuno moved at a blinding speed, knocking all of the Monsunos aside. However, it also barely hit an H-Tram, which had already been badly damaged. One of the Monsuno's blades scraped against the side, causing some sparks to fly. The sparks then landed on some leaked oil.

Immediate explosion. Angel was aware that she had been knocked flying into the air—and it took her a few moments that she had been blown clean off of the narrow ledge where the battle had been taking place.

"Angel!" Chase screamed simultaneously with Bren and Jinja. She heard Evo's screech at realizing her controller was in peril as well, and tried diving down—but was stopped by an attack by Driftblade, although it wasn't enough to make her return to her core. Angel knew what she had to do…and they would be _so_ screwed after.

Closing her eyes, she spread her wings, and swooped up. She noted that the sun was rising. Angel looked down at the ones below. Her friends looked very panicked. She didn't blame them.

Most of the soldiers were staring in shocked disbelief—some even raising their visors for a better look at her. Trey…she couldn't tell if he was terrified or mesmerized. Mesmerfied?

As for Charlemagne…well, Angel couldn't really get much from her. She was just staring in shock, her yellow eyes wide.

Angel immediately sent a thought down to her friends. Guys, now's our chance! Get moving!

In response Chase, Beyal, and Jinja called their Monsunos back, while Evo swooped down and picked them up.

Once they were safely flying away, Chase turned to look at Angel. "Angel…I hope you know what you just did," he said solemnly.

"Yeah…but it was fly, or go splat. I'd rather not go splat."

"Yeah," he said with a slight laugh. "But you know now they're really gonna be after us—you especially."

"I know."

* * *

Once she had recovered from the shock of what she had just seen, Charlemagne turned to Trey. "Commander, find zhose children _immediately_!" she ordered.

He gave a blank look in return for a few moments before saying, "Ma'am…English please."

_Not again!_ She repeated what she said, and he nodded, shouting order to the soldiers. Then he muttered, "So _that's_ why she's called Angel."

She rolled her eyes, and called Driftblade back. She needed to rethink this…


	14. Arc I: RSVP, Part I

**Myra: Sorry for the wait. At least I'm at Daxy's first appearance!  
**

**Dax: *mutturs* About time...**

**Myra: *sweatdrop* Well...I can only write when the Sledgehammer of Inspiration strikes me...which is why it's taking so long for "Elemental Guardians" and "Morphed". I will also rewrite my story "Time" at one point...as I've been mentally updating the storyline. So keep an eye out for those! **

**Dax: Aren't you forgetting something?**

**Myra: Why yes, I am. You will doubtlessly notice other storyline changes in the chapters. Such as references to "Time"—that's a _major_ one! *pause* Also, due to my poll's results so far, I made something cute happen...  
**

* * *

It was hot and bright—no duh, since they were in the Lowlands. On a bus. A _very warm_ bus with lots of people. All passengers gave startled exclaims when the bus tipped to one side—they were on a narrow cliff-ledge road.

"Alright, I know I said we had to lay low, but this is _crazy!_"

"We're in the _Lowlands_, Chase?" Bren said. "It doesn't get any _lower_ than this."

"You can say that again," Jinja muttered. Angel groaned, facepalming. Suddenly the driver screamed a bit, and hit the brakes—hard.

They were all lurched forward and tossed to the side as the bus skidded to a halt and spun a bit. While everyone else poured out of the bus in a panic, Angel groaned a bit and opened her eyes—only to blush like crazy when she noted how close her face was to Beyal's. Said white-haired teen blinked a few times as Angel's face flushed. "Um, sorry," she stuttered. He didn't reply…

…and Angel became aware that the exact same thing had just happened with Chase and Jinja, who were both blushing like crazy while Bren was desperately trying not to laugh.

And no sooner did they pick themselves up did some old guy come onto the bus. "Hello children," he greeted. "I have a message for you from my employer. He wishes to invite you to meet with him as his guests, Chase and Angel Suno."

"So much for being incognito," Bren muttered.

The creepy old guy seemed to realize something. "Ah yes…I should allow the good doctor to have the pleasure of speaking with you himself." He held up a small device which flashed, and suddenly there was a hologram of a bald man wearing a black suit there. He bowed a bit before speaking.

_"Chase, Angel, I am pleased that you both have finally come to the Lowlands. My name is Doctor Emmanuel Klipse. I was a…_colleague_ of your father."_

"Sorry," Chase said.

Angel continued: "Dad never mentioned you."

_"No, he wouldn't,"_ Klipse went on. _"Our work was highly secret. As soon as STORM put their hands on my experiment, I decided to take my research elsewhere. I tried to convince your father to come with me, but he refused. He thought he could do some good from the inside." _Klipse clenched a fist. _"He was wrong."_

"Ah, this is a great story and all, but why are you telling us this?" Chase asked.

_"Forgive my manners. We have much to discuss. I would like you both to join me…for some tea."_ Turning his attention to the creepy guy, he said, _"Hargrave, give them the invitation."_

"It would be my pleasure, Doctor Klipse," he replied. One of the weird mech-arms on his backpack-thing extended and handed Angel a red envelope of some kind. Angel immediately opened it and studied the black card inside.

"Is this a telephone number?" she asked no one in particular.

_"Surely you understand my need for secrecy,"_ Klipse said. _"Decipher the code, and don't be late. I do not tolerate lateness,"_ he growled. And then the hologram vanished.

"He's menacing, and has manners," Jinja commented.

"Yeah…quite the combination," Chase said.

Hargrave sniffed suddenly. "Ugh…I highly recommend you…_freshen up_ before showing yourselves," he remarked. One of Angel's eyes twitched a bit. "Dress as casual, but not _this_ casual. Now, if you will excuse me…"

Before any of them could process it, one of the mech-arms he had flipped and cut a hole in the bus's roof, allowing him to get out through the top. As they ran out, they saw his mech-arms allowing him to maneuver up the cliff.

Doctor Emmanuel Klipse and Hargrave, Angel mused mentally, broadcasting her thoughts to her friends. So are they crazy-weird or downright-evil?

"I'm not sure yet," Chase said aloud.

"Look at the bright side!" Bren put in. "At least you both get free tea out of the deal."

"Um, Bren?" Angel said. "We both _hate_ tea."

"Right…forgot about that."

"All is not lost," Beyal said suddenly. "Perhaps they will have…coffee, is it?" The last part was directed at Angel, who nodded. Of course she also blushed a bit, remembering the _incident_. Beyal didn't really seem to understand it.

"Yeah," Chase said with a laugh. "Perhaps."

* * *

Finally they made it to the nearest town. After a coughing fit caused by blowing dust, Chase simply said, "Nice," in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, I thought the bus ride was very pleasant," Beyal said cluelessly.

Bren sighed. "All I want is a shower, a cold drink, and some fresh clothes."

"Yeah, good luck with that B," Chase said. "Obviously whoever named this place 'Sanctuary City' didn't know the meaning of the word _city_. Or _sanctuary_, for that matter."

"I know, right?" Angel said.

"I've been thinking," Bren started, changing the topic. "If Klipse worked with your dad, there's gotta be something on him in the Core-Tablet." He took said device out. "Let me see…yeah, right here!"

A recording started. _"Doctor Klipse's research into genetic sequencing for Monsuno DNA has been invaluable. His knowledge is impressive…as it always has been. But he is as ambitious as he is intelligent—a fact I have always been aware of ever since I first met him. And experience has taught me to be wary of ambitious men…"_ The recording cut off in static.

"Ugh, not again!" Bren moaned. "We really have to fix this thing!"

"It might just be the heat screwing it up," Angel reasoned.

"At least part of the man's story has been validated," Beyal commented.

"Yeah…it sounded like dad _knew_ him before all this too," Chase said.

Angel's eyes found something. "Bro…can we get some grub? I'm _starving_!"

"Sure…if we can find a—oh!" Both of them ran for the small restaurant they saw, bursting in and immediately getting almost all pairs of eyes in there on them.

The cook greeted them. "Welcome to Sanctuary, children. What can I get ya?"

"Three bowls please," Angel started. "For me."

"Uh…you sure about that, lil' lady?"

"Don't worry," Chase assured. "She's always been a bit eater. Get one for each of us, actually."

"Alright, here's one," the chef said, and slid it down the counter. Bren attempted to catch it…

…and epically missed, causing the bowl to fly off and splatter its contents all over a guy who looked about their age's jacket.

"Oh, sorry! Sorry!" Bren exclaimed, grabbing a cloth and trying to dry the guy's jacket off. "It wasn't my fault! That bowl came out of nowhere!"

He then noticed something—subsequently Angel did as well. _He has a core?!_ "Wrong move, bandito," the guy growled, turning. He had what was either dark-brown or black hair in dreadlocks and was wearing a blue beanie hat, as well as a bit of an accent that sounded Australian…but Angel wasn't sure how she knew that. "You must be new to the Lowlands…if you're gonna put your hands on someone, you better be sure you can kick their butt first."

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem," Chase said, immediately going on the defensive.

"I'm gonna do you and your little friends a favor," the Lowlander continued. "And let you walk out of here while you still can."

Angel couldn't figure out his name…because she wasn't getting anything form him. _He's blocking me out somehow…sorta like the way dad does it._ It was true—Jeredy had figured out a way to block Angel's mind-reading.

But how would this guy know?

"Hey, who're _you_ calling little?" Jinja asked.

"Come on now you two," the chef said. "We don't want no trouble."

The Lowlander reached for his pocket. "If you _must_ know, I won this thing off a crazy old man." He showed his core. "He came around here a couple of weeks ago, babbling something about monsters and the fate of the world."

"Chase, Angel, that sounds like your dad!" Bren exclaimed quietly. "Apart from the _old_ part, I mean…and the _crazy_ part." He ranted a bit. "Although come to mention it, he _is _a bit strange…" He was cut off when Jinja went up and punched his shoulder. "Youch!"

"So you think you're pretty tough, don't you?" Jinja said.

The Lowlander answered. "Princess, around here there's only two ways to be: tough, or toast."

Angel winced. "Bad move…!" she warned.

"_Princess_?!" Jinja repeated. "Oh that does it!" She threw a punch at him—but he actually grabbed her arm and twisted it back. She hissed in a breath.

"You oughta put a leash on your cat," the Lowlander said.

Chase took out Lock's core. "Take your hands off my friend," he growled. "_Right—now_."

So they took it outside. "Go!" Angel said.

They both reacted immediately. "Lock, launch!" Chase yelled.

In response the Lowlander exclaimed, "Airswitch, launch!" The cores collided in a flash of blue. His Monsuno looked like a cross between a vulture and a hawk, also having four wings—that were surprisingly limber, moving like arms…and also had claws on the end. Heck, he had four eyes!

In a blur, he vanished. _Where'd he go?!_ Chase thought.

Angel's eyes widened. Chase—behind!

_Huh?_ Chase and Lock turned at the same time—only for Airswitch to claw Lock across the face, knocking him down. And it happened _again_ when Lock stood up.

Angel gripped Evo's core tightly. _Should I spin Evo out?_ She decided. "Evo, launch!"

"What the—?!" the Lowlander exclaimed. And the shock was enough for his mental barrier to slip a bit—Angel managed to glean his name: Dax.

The swan-eagle hybrid immediately flew at Airswitch, who had turned visible at the wrong moment. "Glad you decided to take your Monsuno out to play with Evo," Angel said. "Can't say so much for his looks, though."

"Lock, Grappling Blast!" Chase ordered suddenly, taking advantage of the distraction. Lock jumped—and missed as Airswitch moved to the side. The polar-bear Monsuno crashed to the ground. Dax laughed.

"What's the matter? Got no Monsuno skills?" he taunted.

On the sidelines, Beyal winced, closing his eyes. Puzzled, Angel tapped in—and immediately did the same as a series of images washed over her brain: First Lock crashing into a building, and then all of them—with Dax?!

She opened her eyes just in time to realize what Airswitch was going to do—grab Lock and throw him—and intervened by saying, "Evo, Light-Speed Charge!"

In a blur her Monsuno vanished, and suddenly Airswitch was violently knocking backwards into the restaurant, of all buildings. "Alright, that does it," Dax growled. "Airswitch, Restraining Siege!"

"Huh?" Bren said. "That guy's done his homework."

"I thought he said he only had that core for a few weeks?" Jinja put in.

"There is more to this combatant that meets the eye," Beyal said cryptically.

Airswitch flew at Evo, but Lock intervened, slamming him into a building. Dax gasped a bit, shocked—Angel could at least get his emotions, but no thoughts.

As they watched, Airswitch returned to his core. "You lost," Chase said. "Now tell us where you _really_ got that Core-Tech core!"

"Don't you have any idea where you are?" Dax said. "You're in the Lowlands…and you both better sleep with one eye open, 'cause I'll get back at you. And revenge is gonna be sweet!" He hopped onto a motorcycle…which Angel doubted was really his. "See you later Princess!" he directed at Jinja before going off.

"Excuse me?" she said. But he was already gone.


	15. Arc I: RSVP, Part II

**Myra: YUS! Two in a row!  
**

* * *

Later, they had all run out into the desert to avoid the angry civilians—they'd wrecked a few buildings, after all.

"I don't wanna be Captain Obvious, but…" Jinja started. "This is obviously a trap."

"Jin, if Klipse wanted us gone, he could've finished us on the bus," Chase said while Bren tapped away at something on the Core-Tablet. "He _needs _something from us, something he can't just take."

"It would seem our path has brought us here for a reason," Beyal said.

Chase regarded the monk before turning to Bren. "B, are you _sure_ this is the right place?"

"Well, using the numbers on the invite, it's either right here at precisely 3:27 PM…or three-thousand miles in that direction at 4:15 in the morning in the year 1596." **(Cue anime-style sweatdrop)**

"There's clearly nothing he—" Chase cut himself off as both he and Angel very suddenly found themselves falling. An elevator? Angel mentally asked Chase, who shrugged slightly.

When the elevator his bottom, they were greeted by Hargrave. "3:27 precisely," he said. "Doctor Klipse will be pleased."

They went onto another elevator-thing that went horizontal instead of vertical. "What _is_ this place, anyways?" Angel asked.

"_This_ is one of our Eklipse mining facilities," Hargrave explained. "For retrieving Monsuno essence from deep underground."

Chase turned his head. "You're mining Monsuno essence?"

"Yes…the Lowlands, Gogekka Province, and Alto Desert are particularly rich in it. Doctor Klipse believes that these areas may have been primary meteor-impact zones."

Both of them gasped suddenly when they reached a door that opened to show—

* * *

On the surface, the other three were silently waiting after Chase's and Angel's sudden disappearances. Beyal was simply meditating, when a sharp pain in his head made him flinch—and a series of images showed themselves to him: _Airswitch using Restraining Siege on an unknown Monsuno—Dax pointing accusingly at Chase and Angel—Chase shouting "No!"—_

And then it was over. "Beyal? You okay?" Jinja said worryingly—she was _still_ a bit concerned about what happened to Chase and Angel in Mandala.

"Something shall happen this day…something that will affect the fate of us all," he replied.

* * *

"Doctor Klipse? We decoded your invite," Chase said proudly.

As if they hadn't spoken, Klipse merely said, "Care for some tea?"

"We didn't come here to socialize. What we wanna know is—"

"Are those cookies?" Angel suddenly asked. She grabbed a few.

Chase sighed before saying, "You know our father?"

"I'm trying to find Jeredy myself, actually," Klipse said smoothly. "My work with Monsuno genetics has reached a critical stage. I would like to consult with your father on a few things." He opened a case that was on the table—revealing six red cores.

"These are yours?" Angel exclaimed, picking one up along with Chase. "The red ones?"

"You're the guy behind the Underground!" Chase exclaimed. "DarkSpin, and the Bookman too!"

Klipse had an explanation. "I sell my Eklipse cores to…well, anyone who will pay. What they do with their Monsunos has nothing to do with me. Monsuno research is costly…your father chose to get his funding from STORM." Angel detected bitterness in him…at something. "I have to get my funding from…_other_ sources.

"The only thing that truly matters is our work with Monsunos." He stood and started toward a computer of some kind. "That's why I need to find your father. I've narrowed down my search, yet I've still been unable to locate him."

"Tell me about it!" Chase exclaimed.

"But I found someone who _can _find him." A picture showed up on a monitor…of someone they knew. "Dax Martinez, a worthless ruffian. Find him…and we find your father."

"_That guy_? It just so happens we know exactly where he is."

"Well Chase…do we have an _understanding_, then?"

Meanwhile something in Angel twitched at the word _Martinez_. She _knew_ that name…and a quick image of a brown-haired girl standing by a woman who was definitely her mother flashed in and out of her mind. Heck, she even got a name to go with the girl—Ella!

But how did she know that name?

* * *

"…fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!" Jinja counted, looking at her watch. "That's it—I'm going after them." But no sooner did she say that did both Chase and Angel pop out of the ground, getting Jinja to flinch.

"Hey guys!" Chase greeted. "Okay—bad news is, we just made a deal with the devil…"

"Good news is it's one we'll enjoy!" Angel finished.

"A deal with K-K-Klipse?" Bren stuttered.

"Klipse is looking four our dad _and_ hiding from STORM, just like us! And you know what they say—the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Chase said.

"Wisdom also says—the enemy of our enemy may simply be our enemy," Beyal countered.

"Chase…I have to go with Beyal on that," Angel said. "I don't trust Klipse…did I mention I couldn't get anything from _him_ either?"

* * *

"Are you _sure_ we should be teaming up with Jeredy's children, sir?" Hargrave asked dubiously.

"We _aren't_, you fool. The instant Jeredy, Chase, and Angel lose their worth, I will crush them. Of course, Angel may be of use longer…with her _unique_ traits."

* * *

"Yo Martinez," Angel said, sauntering into the rebuilt restaurant.

The Lowlander looked up at her in surprise at her knowing his last name. "Well, if it isn't the fabulous five."

"Actually," Beyal began, "the prophecy foretells that there shall be six—"

Chase cut him off. "Dax, tell us where me and Angel's father is."

"Yes…do tell us," a voice behind them said. _Klipse!_ Said man pushed his way into the room.

Suddenly Dax seemed freaked out. "Klipse! You good-for-nothin' dirty maggot!" he spat, backing away. Angel frowned a bit. "Looks like you've fallen into bad company. _Real _bad." He took Airswitch's core out.

In the back, the chef backed up against a stand. "I just can't catch me a break!" he exclaimed.

"Guys, _NOT IN THE BUILDING!_" Angel screeched, but too late—both Lock and Airswitch were spun out. Airswitch materialized outside, while Lock pushed his way out of the building, wrecking the whole front of the restaurant in the process.

Airswitch attempted to swipe at Lock, but he dodged it. "Lock, Shooting Battery!" Chase ordered. In response Lock leaped up and managed to land a punch on Airswitch, knocking him back.

And then Klipse came out. "That is nothing!" he said with a slight scoff. "Prepare to watch a _real_ Monsuno battle!" He took out a red core. "Backslash, launch!" The core spun across the dust, colliding with a small rock.

The resulting burst of red essence actually tore the ground up a bit. And standing where it materialized was…

Angel gasped in shock. _The other Monsuno I saw!_ It was covered in dark-purple/black fur, had dark-gray spikes on it shoulders and back, and red eyes and claws. It roared loudly, sounding like a high-pitched wolf howl mixed with a grizzly-bear's roar, shattering all glass in the area—even cracking Bren's glasses a bit.

"Wh-What in krag is that?!" Bren exclaimed. Then, "Aw krag, my glasses cracked!"

"Fire and brimstone…with claws!" Jinja responded to Bren's first statement.

"I almost feel bad for that Dax guy! …almost."

Backslash jumped in a blur and tried to claw Airswitch, who also dodged in a blur. Then Backslash was suddenly behind Airswitch and knocked the hawk-vulture into a building. Klipse chuckled. "Perfect. Backslash, Shock Shriek!"

The wolf-bear hybrid charged up an orb of red energy in his mouth and shot it at Airswitch—direct hit. The hawk-vulture was sent back into its core.

"This—this feels wrong," Chase said. "_Really _wrong! Lock, return!" He marched up to Klipse. "That's enough!" he said.

The bald scientist called his Monsuno back—but Angel had a feeling that it was on his own accord. "It's time you tell us what you know," he growled to Dax. "Where is Jeredy Suno?"

"Sorry, I'm not good with names," Dax said. "D'you have a picture?"

"Fortunately…there are other ways to jog your memory," Klipse said. "Hargrave?"

Angel didn't know when the old guy was suddenly behind Dax. "Now, now…tell Doctor Klipse what you know," he said.

"Are you nuts!?" Angel exclaimed. "That's too far! This is—wrong! Wrong, wrong, _wrong_!"

"Angel, didn't I tell you and your…_brother_? I don't believe in right or wrong…I only believe in Monsunos." He sounded eerily like the Bookman right there.

"Good—then believe in this one!" Angel shouted, taking out Evo's core. After running a safe distance away, she whirled and pitched the core like a baseball, saying, "Evo, launch!"

Klipse smirked before spinning out Backslash.

The two cores raced toward each other, but when they collided—Evo's core was actually sent flying, and caused her to materialize upside-down on a building. _Oh no!_

"We have to get in there!" Bren exclaimed. In response, the other four all spun their cores out. Instantly Lock ran in and actually threw Backslash to stop him from repeatedly slashing Evo in the face. "Nightstone, Prism Shot!" Bren commanded.

The cat-jackal shot an orb of blue energy at Backslash—direct hit…or so it seemed, as suddenly Backslash was behind Glowblade, and had picked her up by the tail and swung her into a building, immediately getting her to go back to her core. "That very strange man's Monsuno is incredibly powerful!" Beyal exclaimed.

"Three on one and we're still losing?!" Bren exclaimed.

"We have to do something, and quick!" Jinja exclaimed. To Quickforce, she said, "Light Barrage!" Again, Backslash somehow dodged it.

"Lock, get out of there!" Chase said. "Head for that clearing!"

"You too Evo!" Angel shouted.

Both of their Monsunos did as such, as did the others. But as they were running, Backslash suddenly appeared in front of Lock, slashed him in the face, and then did as such with the other three.

"Of course," Hargrave said. "Backslash is invincible." However the distraction proved painful, as Dax took advantage and elbowed the old guy right in the gut.

"Do you all really think that Jeredy's unrefined Monsunos can hold a candle to my genetically-superior warrior?" Klipse teased.

Angel looked at him hard. "I knew there was something weird about you," she growled.

"Perceptive of you," he said sarcastically. "But having you both as prisoners will suit me just fine as of now…and then your father. And perhaps in the meantime, I can learn how and why you are a human-avian hybrid, Angel Suno."

Feeling as though all the warmth had been drained out of her, she stammered, "Wh-Wha'…?"

Klipse ignored her, and yelled, "Backslash! Finish it!"

Backslash's spikes began glowing with red energy. Angel heard Chase yell something, and then—

Airswitch was suddenly latched onto Backslash, using Restraining Siege. "What?!" Klipse exclaimed, shocked.

"Hey Princess!" Dax said. "Have your Monsuno ram into him!"

"We can't do it—we're not powerful enough to defeat him!" Chase said.

"You're such a noob! We don't need to defeat him—we just need to get him over there!" Dax pointed at a cliff, which Airswitch had managed to drag Backslash over to.

"Good idea!" Jinja said. "Leave it to me!" She started toward her Monsuno—only to stop as a flash of red went off behind them. They all turned to see Hargrave standing by another Eklipse Monsuno.

"Please don't forget about me," Hargrave said. "Now, Shadowhornet, finish them!"

The Monsuno was all set to lunge at them—when Glowblade suddenly materialized in front of it. "And do not forget about me, either!" Beyal said. To the others, he said, "I will do this."

"Thank you Beyal," Jinja said before resuming her previous actions. Running toward her Monsuno, she shouted, "Quickforce, shove 'em off the cliff! Go!"

Quickforce regarded her before charging up and head-bashing Backslash. To the others, Dax said, "Why don't you guys chip in?"

"Lock!" Chase called in response.

"Nightstone!"

"Evo!"

The three Monsunos all charged in unison, slamming into Backslash…and just as they were falling, Airswitch let go and allowed Backslash to fall all the way to the bottom. And incredibly, the impact was enough to send him back to his core.

Looking murderous, Klipse turned to look at them. "You've all chosen a side in this war now," he snarled. "Unfortunately for you, it is the losing side."

"I'll take any side…as long as you're not on it!" Chase growled.

"Until we meet again…" He began walking away, Hargrave following—Shadowhornet had been sent back into his core because of Glowblade.

* * *

"You really saved us," Chase said to Dax later that evening. "After what we did to you…that's big. Really big. What do you say? Friends?"

"I've learned that in the Lowlands, the only things you can trust are yourself, and your Monsuno," Dax said, a solemn look on his face.

"Okay…fine…" Chase started.

Angel picked up. "Can you at least tell us what you know about our father?"

Unlike other people, Dax didn't seem put off at all that Chase and Angel were related…well, sorta. "I don't even know who your father is. Klipse and I go _way_ back—he was just using you guys to get to me." He hopped onto his motorcycle. "See ya later, Princess."

Jinja growled, but again, he was already gone. "Just one punch!" she shouted. "That's all I want—just one punch! Is that too much to ask?!"

"Too late Jinja," Chase said. "He's gone."

"Amen to that," Bren said. "I'm glad I'll never have to see that guy again for the rest of my life."

"Then you will not live long, for we _shall_ meet him again," Beyal said. "We must, for he is the sixth member we have been searching for."

"_Him_?!" all four of the others yelled at the same time, getting Beyal to flinch. "_That guy_'s our sixth musketeer?!" Bren exclaimed.

"No! Not him! No way!" Jinja exclaimed. "It's not happening!"

"Uh…should I go after Dax, then?" Angel asked.


	16. Arc I: Appleseeds, Part I

**To Cheetha: I sort of already had this written out...and I'm sticking to the main plotline as much as I can—for now... Of course, that doesn't mean I added my own beliefs in here and there, as I will be doing for originality's sake. ~Myra  
**

* * *

The sun was beating down ruthlessly. Even more so than usual, since they were right on the border of the Alto Desert—easily the most dangerous region of the county, as so many people die from heat exhaustion there it was ridiculous.

Angel was flying high, keeping a hawk's-eye on Dax. She made sure to be at an altitude where he'd think she was a vulture or some sort of other large bird. Her brother and friends silently followed him below, following her mentally-sent instructions. All of them had gotten sunhats for the head, and Bren had gone as far to rent a pony for their things.

_C'mon Dax…prove me right!_ Angel heard Chase think. Said guy was climbing up some rocks. "C'mon you guys—I don't wanna lose this clown," Chase said. Angel landed close by—her wings were getting sore. Not to mention she needed a snack.

Of course they had a bit of an issue getting the pony up the hill. "I dunno about this Chase," Bren said. "What little monkfish here keeps preaching, about this so-called Destiny of the Five—Dax seems like bad news to me. Do we have to listen to this stuff?"

"I think we need to keep an open mind, Bren," Angel said.

"Shh!" Chase exclaimed. "Dax stopped—he's doing something. I'll check it out—you guys wait here." He clambered up the rest of the rock hill. Angel, making a decision, took to the air to watch. Didn't help much, since Dax went under a rock overhang. She _did _see something else though.

She then realized what it was. _**"Chase, get out of there!"**_ she screamed to him mentally.

"What the krag is that?!" she heard Bren exclaim. Said object was a rocket-grenade.

"Everybody get down!" Chase shouted. He ran, but the blast still knocked him forward.

"Chase! Are you okay?" Jinja asked.

"I'm fine," he answered. Angel, meanwhile, threw caution to the wind and went to see if Dax was alright—he'd been closer to the blast.

She saw another rocket, and heard Chase yell, "Incoming! At us this time!"

Once Angel was sure all her friends were safe, she thought to them, _**"There's a sniper up on the cliff!"**_ Then she checked if Dax was conscious or not—he was.

While she helped him up—easy, since she was unnaturally strong—he muttered, "You crazy, Suno? Why did you…?"

"Well…I don't know," she said. "It's the right thing to do, that's all." He didn't respond.

"Angel, are you alright?" she heard Jinja ask. Angel looked up—they had all hastily moved closer, and were on a rock ledge. Chase was looking at her nervously.

"I'm fine," the avian-hybrid called up. "So is Dax." Then she looked at the ledge where the sniper was…and saw that he wasn't there. _What the…?_

Then she heard an exclaim from Beyal: "My tribe, my tribe—help!" Angel bolted up there, to see that the sniper had one of Beyal's arms twisted back.

Both Angel and Bren immediately had cores in hand, but the sniper said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not if you wanna see your little friend here in one piece." He wasn't kidding, either.

So Angel settled for a _I-will-kill-you_ glare.

Chase, meanwhile, had gone to get Dax. "The sniper took Beyal!" Jinja exclaimed. The speed at which Chase spun out Lock was…well, immediate.

But as they followed into a canyon, it appeared there were more snipers. "And the hits keep on coming…" Bren muttered.

"Wait!" Angel said. "Those aren't real—they're holograms."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, mind-reading? _Hello?_"

"Right…heh, I forgot."

In a few moments the holograms vanished—and suddenly Angel was aware that both Beyal and the sniper were behind them. The sniper shoved Beyal forward—he was okay, thank God. "Don't move…" the sniper said, backing away.

Angel knew otherwise. "_Run_!" she shouted. They did such—and there was an explosion moments later from where they stood. Luckily they managed to shelter behind a rock face in time.

After Chase called Lock back into his core, Bren commented, "I bet Dax owes that guy money or something. Right?"

"Speaking of," Jinja started. "There goes the boy wonder now." Dax was high-tailing it up the hill. Angel groaned.

"Are you serious?" Chase exclaimed. "_Again_?"

"After everything you did for him—what's his deal?"

"I don't know. But we're gonna find out."

"The truth always reveals itself," Beyal said. "One must be open to see it."

* * *

"It's done, Mistress-Queen," Latinus said, removing his helmet. "The bug has been planted. There _was_ one little glitch…I didn't put it on Dax."

"I am _not_ pleased," Medea said. "Lat, my little errant darling, did you forget who's in charge?! What do you mean, you didn't plant it on Dax?"

"Please mistress! A-Allow me to explain!"

"You have one second. Use it wisely."

"I couldn't get my hands on Dax…so I got it on the little monk, who just so happens to be traveling with none other than the Suno kids."

Medea looked surprise a few moments. "Yes…you're right, little Lat. You _did _make my day. Oh, my Chase and Angel, here in the Lowlands! _Excellent_! I've been thirsting for a rematch—another glorious clash between the titans! An epic battle it shall be!"

"Oh, and mistress," Latinus spoke up. "Dax was burying something in a cavern, a metal box or something…didn't get a good look at it. But it's buried under about twenty tons of rock now!"

"Ooh, I do love a good mystery. Hurry little ones, I don't want to be late for our party!" She stood and looked outside. "If my instincts are correct…the little children are about to lead us straight to daddy…oh, what a prize—Chase, Angel, _and_ Jeredy Suno will all be mine!"

* * *

"Is it me, or am I the only one who's crazy-hungry right now?" Bren asked.

"No, it's not just you…" Amazingly it was Jinja who replied.

_**"You know me, Bren. Do the math,"**_ Angel said mentally.

"Chase, not that I'm sick of playing hide-and-seek with Dax for, like, the _millionth _time, but don't you think we should head back?"

"As much as it pains me to say it, I'm with Br…nope, sorry, can't say it!" Jinja exclaimed. Angel knew that she was trying to say she agreed with Bren. Which was a rare occurrence indeed.

"We can't go back—not yet," Chase said. "I'm having one of those feelings—and I can't shake it! Something's up with Dax, something important! Not turning back until I find some answers…"

"With you there," Angel said with a nod.

"Your instincts are correct, Chase and Angel Suno," Beyal said. "You must always respect and obey your inner voices." Something in Angel twitched at that.

A few minutes went by of tailing Dax. "Dax is heading west—Bren, see if there's any points of interest—anything at all in that direction."

"Chase, there's _nothing_ out here," Bren said. "Nada. The big zip. It's just one humongous desert…well, except for the Alto Mountain to the north_west_ of here, but I don't think Dax is going that way…"

Then Beyal tried taking the Core-Tablet. Naturally Bren refused. "Enough!" Jinja said, yanking the device out of Bren's grip—ignoring his protest—and handing it to Beyal. "You wanted to see this?"

"I get no respect," Bren muttered in a rant. "Nada. The big zip."

Angel smiled. _**"I respect you, Bren."**_

In turn he smiled a bit as well. _Thanks Ange._

"Look, see?" Beyal said, showing the Core-Tablet. "As I remembered—there is something not too far from where we are. Something significant…the ancient ruins of Casco Gorge."

"_Huh_? Let me see!" Bren said. "Where? I don't see any ruins!"

"They are not on the map," Beyal explained. "They are only known by a special select few."

"Well, I guess we're five of that few now," Angel said with a shrug.

* * *

Beyal was not kidding when he said _ancient ruins_. "Whoa!" Bren exclaimed. There was moss growing on the buildings, and canals filled with crystal-clear water surrounded the buildings. There was a calm, warm breeze in the area.

"This—is tense," Chase got out.

"And amazing!" Angel added, taking the words out of her brother's mouth. Beyal led them to what seemed to be some kind of shrine, with five stone tablets with strange symbols on them.

"Yes…this is the one," Beyal said quietly. "It is beautiful."

"What's so beautiful about it?" Bren asked. "It's old and all scratched up."

"Those are not scratches, Bren. They are ancient carvings. Created by one of the Five Tribes of _Umahaoj_."

"Uma-_what_?"

"An ancient name from a language that has long since been lost to time. Once, long ago, the five nomadic tribes learned of Monsuno life in a sacred, hidden valley. The Monsuno essence was very much alive there. This essence began to influence their lives greatly. They settled there, and through visions of the future saw many things…they saw the beginning of a new era."

"Tense," Chase muttered, looking at one of the stone slabs.

"That's fascinating!" Jinja exclaimed, also looking at one.

"Here we go," Bren muttered, although Angel noted him looking at another as well.

"Which tribe did these carvings?" Angel asked.

"Very intuitive, my friend. The same tribe who built this city we are standing on—the Tribe of _Taudbuau_. You see, there came a day when the five tribes needed to split up…and create a world ready for the coming age of Monsunos.

"The Tribe of _Taudbuau_ came here eighteen-thousand years ago. This tribe was led by a man who was very wise…and very powerful. His tribe had traveled the earth for eighty-thousand years, and when the torch of leadership finally fell into his hands, he led his tribe here to settle. The built this ancient city, and the leader was able to sense the rich vein of Monsuno essence beneath these Lowlands. This man felt a bond to the Monsunos like no other."

"What happened to him?" Chase asked, enthralled by the story. "Where'd the tribe go?"

"No one is certain. One day, thousands of years ago…they just vanished.

Suddenly Bren gasped, and all of them looked to see a figure moving quickly through the undergrowth. "I thought this place was deserted," Jinja said.

"Yeah…it is," Angel said. "I wasn't getting anything from that guy, either…he was blocking me out. I think it was Dax—let's go!"

So they followed the guy through the ruins. Good thing Angel's night-vision was above-par. They rounded a corner and headed down a stairway. They stopped when the figure did. Then he turned his head slightly to the side, revealing that it was—

"_Dad_?" Chase and Angel exclaimed quietly simultaneously. Jeredy looked around a bit, miraculously didn't notice them, and continued running.

"Chase, Angel, c'mon!" Jinja said. "We're gonna lose him!"

"It—it's not him," Chase said, shaking his head. "Can't be. Not setting myself up only to fall again."

"Chase, it really could be your dad this time!" Bren supported. "I mean, it sure looks like him! And he knows how to block Angel out!"

"You're right Bren," Angel said.

"Yeah…if it is our dad, we're not gonna chance losing him again!" Chase said.


	17. Arc I: Appleseeds, Part II

They ran after him as fast as they could, through a tunnel that had bridges and a few waterfalls. Finally when they caught up, Chase just couldn't wait anymore. "Dad! _Dad!_" he called.

Of course Jeredy immediately stopped and looked to see them all standing on the other side of a bridge he had crossed, panting.

"Chase! Angel!" he exclaimed, looking shocked.

"Hang on dad!" Angel shouted. "We're coming!"

"Stop—don't move! I'll come to you."

He was about to start running, but Dax—why he was there Angel didn't know—stopped him. "Are you bonkers?!" he asked. "It's too dangerous—not worth it!"

Jeredy rounded on him. "Those are my kids!"

"What on earth…" Jinja started.

"…is Dax doing with your dad?" Bren finished.

"Ah…the mysteries are now beginning to reveal themselves," Beyal said.

Angel crossed first, Chase behind her. She heard stones crumble away beneath them. Immediately she tackled her father in a tight hug, as did Chase. "Dad—I knew we'd find you!" Chase exclaimed tearfully—like a cold-yet-warm rain. Angel felt the same.

"We weren't gonna stop until we did!" she added.

"I never expected anything less from either of you," Jeredy said. "I'm just glad you're both alright." He backed up a bit. "Listen, Chase, Angel. There's so much I have to tell you…so much you both need to know…things that aren't in the Core-Tablet. Things that—"

He was cut off by a high-pitched, _familiar_ laugh. Chase and Angel both looked up. It was Medea and the rest of her crew. "Three Sunos for the price of one!" she exclaimed. "Oh, what a glorious day!"

They landed in a circle formation, surrounding them. "Sorry to interrupt your little family reunion," she said. "But I was feeling hungry…and oh what a feast this is!"

"That's funny," Chase started. "I'm starting to feel a little hungry myself."

"And so we begin again…_launch_, my darling Poisonwing!"

"Lock, launch!"

Angel followed up. "Evo, launch!"

The three cores collided on the bridge in a flash of blue and red. Lock roared a loud challenge at the insect-wyvern at the same time as Evo's screech. Poisonwing returned the battle cry, and the three charged each other. Lock pounded Poisonwing about five times before she managed to twist away. "Little ones, this is _not_ a spectator sport," Medea said to the other three from her crew. "It's time for you boys to play as well! _NOW_!"

In response they whirled and spun their cores out towards Jinja, Bren, and Beyal—who spun out their cores in turn. Again, the blinding flash of red and blue. Spikebat immediately tried stabbing Quickforce with her tail. In turn, Quickforce bit it.

Moonfire attacked in a blur, yet Glowblade kept her shield up and going before biting one of his pinchers _hard_.

Nightstone leaped at Spiderwolf, claws ready. The Eklipse Monsuno attempted to attack with sound waves, but the cat-jackal dodged it nimbly.

"C'mon old man!" Dax said, attempting to drag Jeredy away from the fight. "We've gotta get you out of here!"

"Not yet," he replied. "Not until I _know_ Chase and Angel are safe!"

An attack from Poisonwing knocked Lock off of the bridge they were fighting on, and then she shot a poison barb at Evo—direct hit.

Medea quickly relocated herself to another bridge—the one they were on was collapsing. On impulse, Angel took flight as well. "What the krag?!" she heard Dax exclaim loudly.

She also heard Telegonus say, "Holy—! That guy wasn't kidding!" _So they _do_ know I have wings…_

Only when she heard her father scream Chase's name did she realize Chase was falling. Immediately she flew down, but falling rocks stopped her. "Let me go!" Jeredy snarled at Dax, who complied immediately.

Lock jumped off from where he had been clinging to the wall, managing to catch his controller. Then a rock landed square on Angel's right wing, and she started dropping like a chunk of cement. Evo shrieked and flew down to catch her as well, even as rocks battered her.

Both Monsunos crashed into the river below, and the two controllers found themselves submerged. They quickly swam to the surface.

"Lock!" Chase exclaimed. His Monsuno regarded him before reverting into essence and returning to his core. To Angel's shock, Evo did the same. _We…we lost…_

Above, she heard Medea sigh and say, "The sweet taste of victory. Let me savor this perfect moment." Angel glared ice-daggers at her before looking at Evo's core, feeling tears blur her vision.

_Evo…I'm _so_ sorry…!_

"You've gotta get out of this mess, old man!" Dax said quietly to Jeredy, who had taken two objects out of his bag. "Now, before it's too late!"

"Wait," he said. Then, raising his voice: "Chase! Angel! _Catch!_"

They looked up just in time to each catch a new core. "Their names are Wingblade and Longfang!"

"_Now_!" Dax exclaimed.

"Alright…"

Angel stared at her new core. As did Chase with his. Then they both tightened their grips—time for revenge. "Hey your-craziness, how about a rematch?" Chase yelled.

"A second Monsuno…you are both full of _delicious _surprises!" was all Medea had to say.

"Wingblade," Chase started. "Launch!" He spun the core hard.

Angel followed up. "Longfang, launch!"

The two cores skipped across the surface of the water, colliding with the cliff face. Wingblade resembled an owl, having four wings like Evo. His lower feathers were coated in crystal, and he had a crest of sharp-looking crystal on his head as well. Longfang resembled a saber-toothed tiger, having crystal claws and a bladed tail.

"Light-Shard Rain!" Chase ordered. Wingblade screeched, sending down daggers of energy onto Poisonwing. Meanwhile, Longfang leaped up various stones so it was at the same level as Poisonwing.

"Fang Burst!" Angel yelled. In response her new Monsuno shot a beam of blue energy from his mouth—direct hit! "Way to go Fang!" she cheered. Then she paused. _Wait…Fang?_ Another faint image—that guy with the black wings! Was his name Fang?

While she was distracted, Longfang had also gone ahead and sent Spikebat back into her core, as did Wingblade to Moonfire. "Well, well, well," Medea said. "Look whose bites are becoming worse than their little barks!"

"I wish I can have another Monsuno," Bren muttered as Wingblade flew by.

"Enough with the Monsuno envy and help me _now_, Bren!" Jinja shouted.

"Touchy. On my way!" He glanced at his core. "Nightstone, Crystal Blade!" Snarling, Nightstone ran up and sliced a pillar neatly in two, also managing to clip Spiderwolf. Quickforce promptly beamed it with a Dispersion Blast.

"Victory _and _defeat!" Medea exclaimed. "It's _beyond _perfect! It's…_sublime._"

"It's something," Chase said. "Hate to party and run, but we've gotta fly!" In response Wingblade swooped by and picked him up, Angel taking off right after.

"Until next time…my favorite little enemies…"

As they were flying away—the others on Wingblade and Quickforce and Angel on her own wings—Jinja said, "I can't believe your dad just disappeared again like that! We _had _him…"

"Sorry Chase," Bren said quietly.

"Don't sweat it B," Chase started.

Angel picked up. "We found him once…we'll find him again."

"I know it," they said simultaneously.

"Regardless, Chase and Angel are correct," Beyal said. "They must keep looking within. It is there they will find the answers."

* * *

Nothing was prettier than a Lowlands sunrise. Dax didn't pay any heed to it as he finished burying something, then he picked up his phone. "Yo, doc. What's up?" A few moments went by. "Yeah, I got it. Safe and sound. And you weren't kidding when you said blondie had wings!"

* * *

"See, I told you guys these sunhats weren't lame!" Bren said.  
"Bren, they _are _lame," Jinja said flatly.

"Yeah…hate saying this, but I'm with Jin on that," Angel agreed with a laugh. Bren harrumphed in response. Then he looked up. Blinking, Angel turned and squinted. Was that Dax walking towards them…? He stopped in front of Chase.

"Room for one more?" he asked. Chase merely nodded in reply.

* * *

**Myra: To those unfamiliar with my work "Wings", Wingblade is an OC Monsuno belonging to the character Otulissa...and I should probably put the latest version of said story on here now before I forget to!**

**Jinja: You seem to forget things a lot.**

**Myra: Don't remind me. March is always a bad month for me, and so is April, what with my oncoming allergies! **


	18. Arc I: Eye, Part I

It was nice and clear—they were nearing the shoreline.

Which was also why Angel kept pacing around the clearing they had stopped in. "I _saw_ you, Dax!" Chase said. "I saw you right there—_with my father_! Standing right next to him—leading him through the ruins, even! What do you mean you didn't know who he was?!"

"Relax Suno," Dax said nonchalantly. "I had no clue—I was just helping that old geezer get out of there." Neither Chase, Jinja, or Angel believed him. But not even Angel would know—he was still blocking her out.

"You are _so _full of it, Dax," Jinja said.

"Look, if I knew he was your dad, why wouldn't I tell you?" Dax's remark made sense.

"A house divided will not stand," Beyal put in. "Dax is destined to be our sixth. We must put our trust in him."

At that all of them (except Beyal and Dax) exchanged looks. Angel shrugged, as did Chase. Dax spoke up again. "Listen, if it helps: I heard the old man say he was going towards Coastal City. I'm sure if we hurry, we can probably find him there."

"Fine—but let's be clear about _one_ thing," Chase said. "I don't trust you."

"Neither do I," Angel growled.

"And if you step out of line…" Chase let the threat hang before turning and starting to walk in the general direction of the city.

* * *

"Beyal? I've been meaning to ask…" Bren started. "How can you be so sure that someone like Dax is really _the sixth_."

"I'm right here ya know," said guy put in.

"Oh, I know."

"You're _gonna_ know!" Dax started standing.

"Calm down," Angel said forcefully, and both of them relaxed—apparently she could influence people…even if they were blocking her mind-reading.

"I know," Beyal answered Bren, "Because I had a vision."

"Sure it wasn't indigestion?" Bren asked. "I mean, after Chase, Angel and I had those _rat_-dogs back in Axistown, I was seeing things for weeks!"

"True that," Chase agreed. Angel lucked out and didn't. Then again, she had a stronger stomach than both of them combined.

"This whole _destiny_ thing doesn't make any logical sense!"

"Destiny could not make sense to those who choose to run from it," Beyal said.

"What does that mean?"

"That you are the only one it does not make sense to."

Angel couldn't help it—she laughed. "Not much does make sense to poor Brenny-Bren," Jinja said, ignoring Bren's venomous look.

"Destiny is like the night sky," Beyal went on. "You can ask a thousand questions about how it came to be, or what it is made of…or, you can stare at its magnificence and let the stars guide you to your ultimate destination."

_**"Nice speech,"**_ Angel remarked mentally. No physical response, although he was slightly startled.

Dax cut in. "I'll have you all know, I'm wanted in fifteen provinces on my own. Traveling with a group'll be good cover." Did not help the _trust_ issue.

* * *

Everyone else was asleep, or so it seemed. Angel was proved wrong when she heard someone stand, and she opened an eye to see that it was Dax. _Where's he going…?_

Once he was out of the camp, she quickly stood and took off, flying over him. Good thing it was a new-moon night—she could see by the starlight, but he couldn't see her shadow.

She followed him up to a riverside ledge, and she landed on the cliff. He was talking to someone on the phone…but who?

She leaned forward a bit—only to fall. "You spying on me, bird-girl?" Dax asked.

"No, just saw you going out and was curios," she said, brushing herself off. "Who were you talking too?"

"Just my cousin. In Melian City."

Angel didn't believe him. Why? Because she, her brother, Bren, and Jinja lived in Melian—and they knew no one who looked even remotely like Dax in Melian City.

* * *

They had expected warm and sunny weather—it was March now after all. They certainly didn't expect a super-powerful rainstorm!

"According to the weather report I'm picking up on the Core-Tablet, this storm isn't moving or weakening at all!" Bren shouted over the wind. "This isn't any typical hurricane!"

Angel squinted to keep the rain out of her eyes. Chase, I'm not so sure about this anymore! she said mentally to him.

_Honestly I'm not so sure myself, but if dad was here, then I don't want to risk losing his trail!_

_**"Good point."**_

"I can barely see the road!" Jinja exclaimed. A sudden cracking sound got all their attention, and they looked just in time to see a palm tree snap and fall towards them. They all scrambled out of the way—although Angel was aware that someone had knocked her out of the way. Namely, Dax.

"Uh, thanks," she mumbled.

"No problem bird-girl." She heard Chase growl at that one, and Dax gave him a sideways glance before they continued.

"The town looks deserted," Beyal observed after a few minutes.

"Something just isn't making sense about this storm!" Bren said.

But before he could say anything else, Chase warned them: "_Car!_" Said vehicle had been sent flying by the wind—and was flying at them.

"How much more stuff is gonna fall on us?!" Angel exclaimed.

"Lock, launch!" Chase shouted, spinning the Monsuno out. Lock stopped the car where it flew before dropping it. "Lock, thanks for that. Return!"

"We should turn around," Beyal said after Lock did as such. "The storm is getting much worse."

"And go where?" Dax argued. "I'm sure if we go further into the city, we can find some sort of shelter." Amazingly, Chase agreed.

Of course right as they hit an intersection, a vehicle stopped in front of them—a STORM H-Tram, of all things! Two soldiers came out. "You, stop right there!" the first one said. They didn't make a move—maybe he didn't know who they were.

It was a long shot, but still.

"What are you kids doing here?" the second one asked.

"We're here to visit my aunt," Dax said smoothly. "We can't seem to find her."

"She's probably with the other townsfolk riding out the hurricane," the first soldier said. Raising his voice, he added, "C'mon, everyone inside! We'll get you to the underground shelter safe and sound."

"Sure, thanks." Of course he sealed their decision on his own then, so they went in.

Voice quiet, Chase said, "STORM doing humanitarian work? Does anyone else think this is fishy?"

"I'm just happy to be out of the rain," Jinja said. "I'll worry about conspiracies when I'm dry."

Conversation was halted when one of the soldiers spoke. "This is some crazy hurricane," he commented. "And all of its started from one of those things."

"Shut up!" the other hissed. "You shouldn't be talking about stuff above your paygrade. _Especially_ when we got civvies riding with us?"

They all exchanged looks at that one.

* * *

They reached the underground shelter in a few minutes. "Great going Dax," Bren muttered once they were inside. "Now we're stuck down here!"

"What, you think we should've fought our way out in a hurricane?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right," Chase said.

Angel picked up. "Plus, if our dad _is_ here in Coastal City, he'd be here. Fan out and see if you can find him." Then she stopped. There was a younger girl, maybe about six years old, crying her eyes out. Being the softie she was, Angel asked what was wrong.

"S-Someone said there were monsters in the hurricanes!" the little girl got out.

"There aren't any monsters in the hurricane!" Chase reassured. "It's just a storm, and it'll be gone before you know it."

"So…there's no such thing as monsters?"

"Well, I uh…there are, uh…how do I put this…"

A voice cut in: "Maxine! There you are!" The little girl jumped up and ran over to someone who was most likely her mother.

They all smiled at seeing the reunion, but Angel picked up sadness in her brother. He'd never really known his own mother—and Angel hadn't known her would've-been stepmother at all.

Angel also felt a bit of confusion. _Maxine…_Max_!_ A quick image of a girl her age with sun-streaked hair flashed into mind, and then was gone. _Huh…like in that dream…_

She was brought out of her thoughts by yet another voice saying, "I seen one of those before…" They turned to see an old guy staring at them, wide-eyed. The man pointed at Chase's cores. "I hoped I'd never see one again."

* * *

"'Stay with Chase and Angel' he says…I'm amazed he's survived this long without me!"

He opened a door to a storage room, looking around. _Right there._ Without a word, he stuck a small metallic device onto the wall, which began flashing blue. "One more down…and still a ton to go."

* * *

"What do you mean, you've seen one?" Angel asked, also gently probing with her mind to see any memories of Queeg's, as his name was.

"It didn't look exactly the same…it was bigger, rockier—and I'll be damned if it isn't the reason that hurricane's blowing out there. I was fishing when I brought the thing up in my nets…" Angel managed to get an image—what looked like a very-big green-and-blue core getting knocked out of a net by a fish, banging on a boat's deck, and starting to spin. Queeg recounted as such. "My boat capsized, and as I was swimming to shore…I saw one of those STORM airships, smack-dab in the middle of the hurricane. Wherever STORM is, trouble is sure to follow. By the time I got to shore, I was rounded up and put down here along with everyone else. I tried to tell everyone about it…but they don't believe me." He looked at them. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Yeah, more than you know," Chase said. "Now we just have to do something about it."

* * *

They met up in a secluded spot. "Where have _you_ been?" Bren asked.

"Looking for the Sunos' dad. Couldn't find him anywhere—I say we try the next town."

"Not yet," Chase and Angel said at the same time.

"Why? What'd I miss? And how'd you two do that…?"

"One: for starters, it looks like this hurricane isn't natural," Chase said. "It was caused by some sort of Monsuno…"

"Which makes it our business," Jinja put in.

"And now Chase and Angel want to go into the middle of the hurricane to stop STORM from doing…whatever it is they're doing."

"Whoa! You want to go into the middle of a hurricane?" Dax exclaimed. "You guys are bonkers!"

"Nope, just Chase and Angel. But if they're going in, so am I!"

"Look—we _know_ STORM. They're bad news!" Angel said. "And if they're after a Monsuno, they'll do _anything_ to get it!"

"Even more of a reason to get out of here while we still can!" Dax argued.

"Dax, look around. If we don't help…who will?" The Lowlander was effectively silenced. "And to answer your second question…" She lowered her voice. "I'm telepathic."


	19. Arc I: Eye, Part II

They were riding Evo and Wingblade through the storm. Chase, Jinja, and Dax were riding Wingblade—with Jinja clinging onto Chase for dear life—while Angel, Beyal, and Bren were on Evo. "You know Chase," Bren shouted. "You're _really_ testing the boundaries of my friendship! This really isn't the best idea!"

"Heh—I'm with four-eyes!" Dax agreed.

Bren's response was instant. "I take it back! If he's against it, I'm sure it'll work!"

"Time is almost up—we must hurry!" Beyal said. "The Monsunos are about to automatically return to their cores."

Finally they hit the eye of the hurricane—and there was the Cloud-Carrier. "There it is—let's go in!" Chase shouted. In response Angel gave a mental command to Evo, who flew ahead, Wingblade right beside her.

They all climbed into a large, circular vent, helping the others all up before their Monsunos automatically returned to their cores. Although Dax almost fell off—if Angel hadn't caught him. "One good deed deserves another," she said.

He chuckled nervously. "Thanks bird-girl."

* * *

A scientist left a room. Once he was out of earshot, Chase motioned for the others to follow him. "Bren, work your magic," Chase said.

"_Bren_?" Jinja repeated, sounding incredulous. "How is Bren gonna help?"

"Oh Jinja," said teen muttered while shaking his head and typing at the same time. "Watch and learn. After I hacked STORM's code in our last encounter, I put in a little computer-worm. So now I have my own little backdoor into STORM's security."

"This'll _never_ work," she exclaimed…right as the monitors all came on.

"You were saying?" Bren said with a smug look on his face.

Jinja mumbled something in response, while Chase said, "Nice going Bren!"

Angel noticed something crucial on a random security feed. Three _particular _people. "Uh-oh…" she muttered, getting the others' attention.

"Charlemagne—not good," Jinja agreed.

"Turn the volume up Ange!" Chase said. "Let's hear what they're saying!" She complied.

_"We were lucky to be in the vicinity when this Wild Core was activated. Are you _sure_ the device will work?"_ (Jon)

_"Considering that no one knew for sure that wild Monsuno energy even existed…no. But using Jeredy Suno's tech, we should be able to harness the potent energy with the device." _(Charlemagne)

_"How long will it take?" _(Trey)

_"Head-Scientist Memphis says it'll be a long process. He's recommending absorbing it at a slow rate, so we don't shatter it in the process. Another hour should do it." _(Jon)

_"Today is a momentous day…just zhink, it's down there right now…releasing enough power to create that hurricane. Imagine what would happen when ve manage to harness it." _(Charlemagne)

"Uh…I don't wanna know what would happen if they harness it," Bren said.

"Shh!" Angel said. They were speaking again—

_"What of the city? Will the energy be absorbed before the hurricane completely destroys it?" _Jon asked.

It was silence a little before an answer came. _"Unlikely."_ Of course, Charlemagne.

Chase immediately had a plan. "Jin, I need you with me to help destroy that Wild Core. Angel, you take Bren, Beyal, and Dax for a diversion."

"Right!" the bird-girl said.

"Alright then—let's do this thing!"

But before they went out, Dax surprised them by saying, "Hey Glasses, little something for the fight." He gave the glasses-wearing boy a core. "Try this one out." Bren looked mistrustful, but he took it anyhow.

* * *

"Sir, we have a problem!" a soldier said.

"What kind of problem?" Trey asked.

"Well…_them_." On the monitor were three of the rogue controllers plus an unfamiliar boy.

* * *

"Boost, launch!" Dax exclaimed, spinning a core out. Angel blinked. _Boost? Since when did he have two Monsunos? _The core slammed against a hopper, and in a flash of light a wolf-like Monsuno that had some feline features emerged, also having red-crystal claws and spikes on her back.

Bren spun out the core given to him—the Monsuno resembled a frilled-lizard, through-and-through. Beyal spun out Glowblade, and Angel sent out Longfang.

* * *

"They've spun out their Monsunos on the ship!" Jon exclaimed. "Sound the alarm!"

As the alarm was sounding, Trey said into a communicator, "Charlemagne—ma'am, we have a _situation_ on deck…"

* * *

The frilled-lizard Monsuno—Whipper—shoved a few Hoppers off the edge of the Cloud-Carrier. Glowblade crashed down onto some soldiers. Boost and Longfang both ripped parts off of any vehicle on deck.

Angel turned around suddenly, right as Trey said, "You punks don't know when to quit, do you?"

Charlemagne followed up with, "But, I zhink that vill be a lesson I vill be happy to teach." She instantly spun Driftblade out…subconsciously by hand. Angel smirked faintly. _Yep, at least she has a bond with that thing—though she doesn't know it._ Meanwhile Trey sent out Riccoshot—with the Monsuno Launcher of course.

"Glowblade, Electric Barrage!" Beyal commanded. Glowblade complied, sending the attack at Driftblade—who blocked it without effort.

"Riccoshot, Ballistic Repeater—wipe them out!" Trey shouted. The beetle Monsuno charged up energy and sent it as a wave—but Whipper deflected it.

"Wow!" Bren exclaimed, surprised.

"Nice one!" Angel said. "He sure didn't see that coming!" Based on the commander's emotions, of course—shock and surprise.

"Taser Blade!" Charlemagne ordered. Driftblade shot electricity at Boost, who dodged with incredible speed, leaping into the air. The lion Monsuno attempted to attack again…but Boost seemed to vanish.

"What's that Charlemagne?" Dax taunted. "Your Monsuno getting confused? Or is it just my wicked use of Tracer Assault?" The wolf-cougar hybrid appeared behind Driftblade, and shot an arc of red energy at Boost. Yet Driftblade still blocked it. "What the—?!"

"Overconfidence is a terrible weakness, young man," Charlemagne chided.

"Whatever soldier-lady. It's game-on!"

* * *

Chase remembered what Bren had told them: _"Travel alongside the beam—it'll lead you right to the Wild Core. But don't touch it—it's pure Monsuno power! One brush with that, and it's bye-bye destiny!"_

"Remember: avoid beam, follow beam, destroy beam!" he shouted to Jinja, who nodded.

"Sounds easy!" she yelled over the wind.

He nodded. "Let's take that thing out! Wingblade, Energy Bolt!" The owl Monsuno shot a beam of energy from its mouth.

At the same time Jinja shouted, "Dispersion Blast!"

Both attacks hit head-on. And then the Wild Core shot energy spikes at them.

* * *

The Cloud-Carrier jolted suddenly. "What was that?" Jon asked. "Report!"

"Commander Ace, the Wild Core is releasing massive energy!" a soldier responded.

"Not good…"

* * *

Riccoshot dropped lightning on both Whipper and Longfang. Boost lunged at Driftblade and bit hard, drawing a yellow-tinted green liquid from the injury—Angel figured Monsunos had some kind of blood-like substance as well—before being thrown off. Boost nearly went over the edge completely, if she hadn't caught herself on the ledge. "No—up, up!" Dax shouted in desperation.

Boost pulled herself halfway up before Driftblade stalked forward, snarling. Boost growled back, and then Driftblade clawed her in the face, sending her skidding across the deck—only to be electrocuted by Riccoshot.

"Superior strategy vins every time," Charlemagne said.

Angel growled, and was about to yell at Longfang to attack when something hit her. _They have a strategy, huh…well, it won't work so well once I know what it is! _But when she was searching through their adversary's mind for said strategy, the weirdest thing happened. Her vision blurred for a few seconds, and suddenly she was seeing _herself_ and the others on the opposite side of the Cloud-Carrier…but why? Why was her vision a bit blurrier than usual? Why did she not feel as light? And _why couldn't she move_?! Then she realized that her telepathic abilities had gotten another upgrade—she was actually seeing the ongoing fight from the Commandant-Marshal's point-of-view.

And then everything blurred, and she found herself back in her own view…while suffering from that brain-seizure that had struck her and Chase in Mandala.

"_Angel?_" Bren exclaimed.

Dimly the bird-girl was aware that Chase was going through the same thing—his Monsuno halted where he flew, hovering in place while Jinja was worried-as-hell.

Again, she didn't know how long it went on for. Cautiously she forced one eye open, looking up to see Bren, Beyal, and Dax all looking at her worriedly. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Charlemagne and Trey looked a bit more than freaked-out and…was that very slight concern she was picking up from them? Not to mention…either it was just her, or due to the new ability she had been using, the blond woman had felt a little of what Angel just had, judging by her expression.

"Bird-girl, what was _that _about?" Dax asked.

"It—it's nothing," Angel said, turning her attention back to the fight.

* * *

"Chase, are you sure you want to keep at this?" Jinja asked.

"Jin, I told you already, I'm fine!" Chase shouted back. His head still hurt like crazy, but they had a mission to do. Turning his attention to the task, he urged Wingblade to fly closer and attack. "Take this one!" he shouted. The attack hit dead-on. Wingblade dodged with ease, however. "How about this?!" And either it was just him, or the attack seemed powered-up by the Wild Core.

"What was that?" Jinja asked.

"I dunno, but I have an idea! Get as close as you can to the Wild Core!"

"You're insane!"

"Already aware of that. Just trust me—it'll work!" She frowned a bit, and nodded. As they went in close, both Wingblade and Quickforce started glowing.

"What's going on?" Jinja asked.

"_Now!_" Chase exclaimed, and both Monsunos attacked simultaneously…shattering the Wild Core.

* * *

The resulting energy discharge punched three holes in the Cloud-Carrier, causing all of them to jump. "All systems down!" a soldier exclaimed.

* * *

On deck, Riccoshot sent a Ballistic Repeater at them, but Longfang, Boost, and Whipper all jumped over it—only to get Plasma-Barrage'd by Driftblade, who promptly electrocuted Glowblade. Their Monsunos are too strong! Angel exclaimed mentally.

Before anything else could happen, another explosion sounded behind them. Trey looked distracted for a moment. Curious, Angel tried her new ability on him—and heard Jon speaking through a communicator. _"Trey, the Cloud-Carrier's going down. I've ordered a full evacuation."_

In response, the other commander said to Charlemagne, "Ma'am? I'm afraid it's over…the Wild Core's been destroyed."

At that one Charlemagne glared death at the four from Core-Tech before snarling, "Return!" to Driftblade, who instantly complied—apparently he didn't like seeing his controller angry either. Trey called Riccoshot back, and they followed Jon into a Hopper, which took off.

"That's right, you better run!" Dax called after them. The four of them called their Monsunos back.

As soon as they did, an engine chose to blow out right then. As in, _blow up_. All four of them were sent flying, although all Angel did was spread her wings to stop her fall. The others managed to catch themselves on each other and Dax on the Cloud-Carrier's edge. "Guys! _Don't let go_!" Angel shouted.

"You think we don't know that bird-girl?" Dax asked.

Unfortunately the distraction proved fatal, as he lost his grip. But as they were falling…Wingblade and Quickforce swooped in to catch them.

"Thank you Jinja," Beyal said sincerely.

"It's nothing," she replied.

"You know what?" Bren said suddenly. "I don't think I'm ready to give up on this whole _destiny_ thing after all. And uh, thanks for the Monsuno, Dax. Maybe you are really one of us."

"That's what I'm saying!"

Angel flew up alongside Wingblade. "Hey Dax, Boost's really cool. When'd you get her?"

"Well I—" Dax paused, looking confused. "How do you…?" He took out the wolf-cougar's core, looking at it hard. Then he exclaimed, "Boost, you're a shelia?!"

All five of the others laughed nice and hard at that one. They failed to notice the small probe following them.

* * *

"Wild Core?" Klipse exclaimed. To himself, he muttered, "Charlemagne, your incompetence knows no bounds…still. My genius will be the key to unlock the true power of the Wild Core! I _must_ have its power—then _nothing_ will stop me!"

* * *

**Angel: Another one?!**

**Myra: Uh...what to you mean by that?**

**Angel: Two things. One, another ability, and two...what's up with the so-called head-seizures?!**

**Myra: ...you really don't remember anything at all, do you?**

**Chase: You're the one who made it like that. Remember?**

**Myra: Right. Whoops. Uh, you guys'll learn later. Trust me.**

**Angel & Chase: *mumbles threats to Myra***

**Myra: *sweatdrop* *backs away slowly***


	20. Arc I: Deceit, Part I

**Myra: Yes, i finally overcame my laziness and typed this! And to those who have accounts, read this, and haven't voted on my poll, _please_ vote! It's vital to the story! And if you don't have an account, you may tell me through a review! And yes I just rhymed! **

* * *

It was a nice day, but Dax didn't have time to admire it. He was busy running for his life, after all. Behind him, the crazy lion Monsuno roared, still hot in pursuit.

He reached a clearing, and stopped, turning and grabbing Airswitch's core. The Monsuno stopped as well, snarling. "I'm all done with this," Dax muttered, ready to launch his core—

Only to have some guy twist his arm back behind him. "You're mine, kid," the guy said. Just his luck—it was an important-looking guy from STORM.

Another, more familiar voice cut in. "Actually Captain, he's one of mine." Of course, Charlemagne. After calling Driftblade back into his core, "Captain" spoke up again.

"Ma'am, I thought—"

"That is your problem, Captain. You think instead of acting. So get back to camp and try to discern why your movement to contact was so debilitatingly slow."

Captain didn't reply, instead saluting before going off. Once they were out of earshot, Dax said, "You know, you didn't have to run me through the woods with that Monsuno. That thing has some anger issues!"

"I have no time for your vitty banter. Do we have a deal?"

"Sure do…long as you brought the damn payment."

In response, she held up a vial of Monsuno Essence. "Does it bother you at all?" she asked, surprising him slightly. "To betray your friends like this?"

"You kidding me?" Dax said. "For three vials of Monsuno Essence—what do I care about Chase and Angel? They're punks—just getting' in my way."

"You know young man, with a little more discipline you would make a fine STORM Elite."

"Ah-ah. Don't go thinking I'm one of your jack-booted lackeys, lady. I'm in this for me."

Again the blond woman spoke up, handing him a small chip of some sort. "Take zhis. My command contacts—you can use any communications device. Keep in touch, understand?" She started walking away.

Dax chuckled a bit. "Right…"

She paused, and turned. "Do _not_ disappoint me."

* * *

"Disappointed!" Bren exclaimed. "I'm not picking up any energy spikes related to the energy used in Monsuno research centers like your dad used, Chase." No sooner did he finish his sentence did the Core-Tablet beep. "Whoa, I take that back!"

"Our STORM friends have been keeping busy," Angel observed, looking down at a research center and the people moving about in it.

"Looks like they use the river for mining efforts," Jinja said. "Everybody wants Monsuno Essence."

"Where's Dax?" Bren asked. "I thought he was supposed to be here by now?"

"He was scouting up ahead," Chase said. "But this is late, even for him."

"I don't know about him sometimes," Angel put in thoughtfully.  
"Well, you both know where I stand on that!" Bren said. "He's completely untrusthwor—"

He was cut off by Dax's "Yo! Don't you know it's dangerous to leave someone out here all alone?"

"Leave _you_ alone? With that huge ego to keep you company? Not likely!" Jinja said.

Angel grinned. _"Nice one Jin!"_

"You want some ice for that?" Bren asked, smirking faintly.

Dax didn't reply, instead saying, "I checked some abandoned mines across the valley, on the other side of the base near the river."

"Any my dad might've used?"

"Oh. A couple that still have the Core-Tech symbol that STORM hadn't painted over yet. I can show you—maybe clue us in on what your dear old dad's up to."

"Maybe," Angel said. "Did you find a safe way for you guys to sneak past?" At Dax's blank look, she added, "I fly, remember?"

"Right…well, of course I did. We don't want to run into the STORM freaks, do we?"

As they were traveling, Jinja said, "His _nice-guy _act makes me gag."

"He used to be too-cool," Bren added. "Now he's all boring, like us."

Jinja rounded on him immediately. "Zip it. _I _am never boring."

Beyal suddenly paused. "What's wrong?" Angel asked.

"I sense something…" He paused, and added, "It is nothing."

Dax had also stopped. "Let's see what the STORM geeks are up to."

Angel looked, and focused. "Oh great," she muttered sarcastically. "I see Charlemagne down there." She snorted a bit. "Something's _off_ about her. I don't know what."

"Uh…can you give any hints, at least?" Chase asked.

Angel sighed. "I just said I don't know what!" Mentally she added, She's also a bit jealous of me, I think. Since I have wings and all. Curious, she then did her sensory-link (as she called her new ability) on Charlemagne again.

"_Wrong_! Incompetent and wrong!" the blond woman shouted at an important-looking soldier.

The guy looked sheepish before saying, "Hydro, return!"

"So, Captain," Charlemagne started. "After I went and set up zhis elaborate trap, you intend to literally _crush_ our enemies?"

"Well—ma'am, I uh—"

"Pathetic." She shook her head. "We'll do it again. And zhis time, get it right!"

* * *

"Talk about Monsuno energy readings!" Bren exclaimed, looking at the Core-Tablet. "Those STORM Monsunos are powerful!"

"You're telling me," Angel said. She frowned a little. "I'm barely getting any thoughts from them…like they have no free will at all. It's sad."

"Great seats for the show, right?" Dax said. To Angel's confusion, she saw him slip something into Jinja's pocket without her noticing. _I wonder what that is._

"Yeah, but while they're practicing trying to turn us into toast, we should wing it and make time," Chase said, using a line of Angel's.

"Sure. In the meantime, I'll go play scout." Dax turned and sauntered off.

Angel turned her attention back to what was happening below, focusing…and failed to notice Bren follow Dax.

* * *

When Dax was sure the others were far out of earshot, he took his phone out, and put the chip in. Charlemagne responded immediately. _"Speak."_

"No, _you _speak. What's the plan?"

_"Take zhem to the town in the middle of zhe valley. Can you handle that?"_

"'Course. I got it covered."

_"Listen to me, turncoat. You had better, because if you—"_

The sound of a twig snapping made Dax turn. "Uh, call waiting!" He turned the phone off.

"I saw that!" Bren exclaimed. "What are you _doing_?"

"Listen, Bren, mate, it's cool…" At that moment, Dax jumped, and landed a blow right on the back of the brown-haired teen's neck—right on the pressure point. He immediately dropped, completely and totally unconscious. _Glad I didn't blow off _all_ my karate lessons._

* * *

Bren woke up very suddenly. _Huh, wha'—what's going on?!_ He realized he was tied up…and there was Dax, finishing a knot.

"Sorry Glasses, can't let you mess this up," the Lowlander said. "Too important." He started walking away.

"Hey! Come back you—you traitor!" But he was already gone. _I gotta warn Chase and Angel!_

* * *

Angel looked around when she heard footsteps. Dax was back, but now she noticed someone else gone. "Hey, where's Bren?" she asked.

"He followed me down the trail, and geeked out over some old Monsuno equipment he found," Dax explained. "I told him to catch up to us in town."

"Not like him to be on his own," Chase said. "But he _does_ tend to get distracted…"

"Told Glasses he was wasting his time—then he told me 'stay out of my face!'…in a much wimpier way, of course."

"Now _that_ sounds like Bren," Jinja said.

* * *

Bren struggled to get himself out of the ropes, but to no avail. He huffed, hanging his head a bit…and then jolted when he felt his hand start stinging for some reason. Oh, it was just the light being intensified by his glasses…wait a second. _Of course!_

* * *

The town was silent. "Okay…is anyone else getting a creepy feeling?" Jinja asked.

Angel nodded. "Uh-huh."

"It _is _quiet and peaceful, though," Beyal put in.

Chase remained silent. Angel noticed something. "Where'd Dax go?"

They stopped and looked around. "I liked the peacefulness of this place," Beyal started. "But I am beginning to have a very bad feeling about all of this."

* * *

"Yes!" Bren exclaimed happily to himself once the rope was all off. He looked around, assessing his location, and began running in the general direction of the town.

* * *

"Why do you keep saying we have to trust Dax, Beyal?" Angel asked.

"Because we have no choice. We six can only succeed together. We shall perish apart."

"Beyal, you're too sweet. Really," Jinja said. "But Dax is trouble, in all caps-lock. You're pretty much the only reason we trusted him in the first place. But…we _really_ need you to help us out here. Can we trust him _now_?"

The white-haired teen's response was not reassuring. "I…I cannot be sure. None of this makes any sense anymore…"

Then they heard something. Chase shushed them. "Guys, listen!"

Angel perked up. "It's Bren!" Said teen rounded a corner, looking ready to pass out. He almost fell forward when he stopped in front of them, but Angel steadied him. "Bren, what's wrong?"

He didn't have to say a word, because he only had to think it. Angel's eyes widened. "_It's a trap_!"

At that moment, to their shock, a few "buildings" came down—actually walls. Not to mention they suddenly had a bunch of STORM soldiers pointing guns at them.

"Looks like we got company," Chase said.

Of course Charlemagne was there. "Chase and Angel Suno. Surrender now, and I suppose I'll go easy on you."

To Angel's shock, Dax stepped out from behind her. "Better do as she says. Soldier-lady here is _very _serious, ya know."


	21. Arc I: Deceit, Part II

"You—sold us out?!" Jinja shouted, looking angry.

"Heh. I'm a capitalist, princess," Dax replied smoothly.

"Guess I should've set my instruments to detect _traitor_," Bren mumbled.

"You still wouldn't've seen it coming, ' cause I'm that good."

"The only reason we _didn't _see it coming is because we trusted you, " Chase said.

"Heh. That was _your_ mistake, Suno. Not mine."

Chase whirled around. "And it's a mistake I intend to correct." He took out Lock 's core. "_Right—now_." The others all took their cores out a s well…

And then strings flew at their cores. An gel sensed it coming and moved Evo's core out of the way just in time, and managed to force Chase to do the same—the others weren't as lucky, and their cores we re yanked away by some Elites.

Angel acted immediately. "Bren, you go with Beyal to get the cores back!'

"Wha'—why me?!"

"Because! Jin, you stay here for backup. Maybe you can kick someone's butt while you're at it."

"A-Okay by my standards!" her friend replied, clenching a fist—no one stole Quickforce and got away with it.

Chase took a few steps forward, as Charlemagne said, "Your only option is surrender." Two Elites surrounded them in a three-quarter-circle.

Angel smirked. "Actually it's not, _Charle_." She randomly picked the name from a memory, and her smirk grew when she saw t he look on the amber-eyed woman's face. Just for a second, she thought she saw some sort of shock in her eyes…and something else. She didn't linger on it.

"But we'll go with our personal favorite …" Chase picked up, eyes gleaming.

"Namely, beating the krag out of you guys, Monsuno-style."

"You have no idea vhat you're getting in to, children," Charlemagne said in a low , dangerous tone, before throwing Driftblade's core into the air.

Chase immediately spun out Lock's core, while Charlemagne did the same with Driftblade. This time with the whip—Angel frowned. _That just isn't right!_

The two Elites sent out Crossbolt and Skysite. And Angel added Longfang into the mix. The five cores collided in a flash of blue and yellow.

Lock immediately had to put up a shield to stop an attack from Skysite. Longfang jumped over Crossbolt—who'd been attempting to ram him—before turning and, on Angel's mental order, used his Fang Barrage attack. The beam of energy sent him flying towards Lock—who caught him and threw him into a building.

"Driftblade—Taser Blade!" Charlemagne ordered. The lion Monsuno attempted to attack Lock, but Chase intervened.

"Lock, Shooting Battery!" Lock leaped over the attack, and tried slugging Driftblade in the muzzle—but he put a shield up.

Then Longfang dropped on Driftblade from above once the shield was down, sending him down to the ground. "Way to go Fang!" Angel cheered. She paused, face contorting. "Why do I keep calling you that?! " she yelled randomly, earning a weird look from Charlemagne.

Longfang super-jumped away to stand by Lock, and both Monsunos roared a challenge. Driftblade returned it at equal volume.

"You can't beat her, Sunos! She's gonna down both of you good!" Dax taunted.

"Sorry, can't hear losers," Chase said.

Angel added, "Or traitors!"

"You're nobody!"

"A ghost!"

"A zero!" both finished.

Dax twitched angrily. "I got your _zero_ right here!" He pretty much flung Airswitch's core at them. The core hit one of Lock's claws, and the hawk-vulture-lizard Monsuno immediately restrained Lock, and jabbed at Longfang with his beak.

Taking advantage, Charlemagne yelled, "Driftblade, Electronade Cannon!"

The attack hit right on. "Lock!" Chase exclaimed in desperation. Then he took out Wingblade's core, and Angel smirked be fore taking Evo's out. Both avian Monsunos were spun out immediately.

Wingblade instantly swooped in and rammed Airswitch head-on, causing a fair amount of blue-tinted green liquid to well up from a nasty-looking wound.

Evo, meanwhile, zipped by Skysite, who l et out random energy shots in a futile attempt to hit her. One attack dropped on Crossbolt, instantly sending him back t o his core. Another went right at Charlemagne, who barely got out of the way—she was still sent flying. _She's definitely gonna have some bruises from that!_ Not to mention another one dropped on Driftblade, right in the face.

The Monsuno tried to hit Evo with orbs of electricity, but she dodged each one with ease. Heck, the last one hit Skysite and sent _her_ back to her core!

Boy, was Charlemagne mad. "Unbelievable… " she growled.

* * *

"What the?" Bren exclaimed, confused to no end.

He and Beyal had found the Elites who ha d taken their cores…in a net. "I do not understand," Beyal said. "Why are they in a net?"

"Beats me. Let's just get our cores."

* * *

The fight went on fiercely. Lock and Longfang were seriously running low on stamina, and Wingblade and Evo had both been hit by attacks, sending them right into their cores.

_I have to help!_ Jinja thought. _But I don't have Quickforce on me…huh?_ Was there something in her pocket? She checked—it was a vial of Monsuno Essence. "When did I get this?" she mused. Then she smirked. _To heck with that!_

She took out the empty core that she had earlier claimed for herself once they had the spare Monsuno Essence. When she put it in, the core immediately turned light-blue.

Right as she was about to spin it out against Driftblade, something more worrying caught her attention. The shark-like Monsuno had burst out of the river and was heading right for Lock and Longfang. Acting on impulse, she spun the core towards it instead.

The Monsuno that emerged looked like a cross between a buffalo, a moose, and an armadillo. It immediately rammed into Hydro, full-force.

Driftblade tried to take advantage of the distraction and shot a beam of electricity at Lock, but the polar-bear Monsuno put a shield up just in time. Then Longfang leaped from behind Lock, lunging straight at the lion Monsuno.

"Guardian Blade!" Charlemagne shouted. The shield went up, but it faded directly after Longfang's attack. Angel noted that she bit her lip slightly.

Chase must have noticed as well. "Jaw of Light!" Lock responded immediately, shooting a beam of energy at Driftblade.

Again the Commandant-Marshal ordered her Monsuno to form a shield—but this time it gave out. Driftblade was pushed back a few feet…and then he returned to his core. "All right!" Chase cheered.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Captain ordered, and the soldiers began to retreat.

Angel was aware that Bren and Beyal had returned, and whistled for them to come over. "This way—over here!" Chase called .

"Failure? Failure is not an option…lieutenant," Charlemagne growled. Angel kept a close eye on them, listening.

"Uh…I'm a captain, ma'am."

"Not anymore." The ex-Captain looked down in humiliation.

Then Dax sauntered up. "Hey soldier-lady!"

"Call me zhat _one_ more time, and I vill allow Driftblade to use you as target practice!" Obviously, she hated the nickname.

"Hey, a deal's a deal. _You_ messed it up after I delivered—pay up!"

She muttered something before giving him two vials of Monsuno Essence. Angel blinked and shock, and glanced at Chase…who winked at her. **_"Chase…?"_**

_I'll explain later,_ he thought.

She turned her attention back to eavesdropping just in time to catch Charlemagne say, "Keep my command-contacts. I vill be in touch."

"Hah, this was fun. Really." He did a mo ck-salute before adding, "You're my kind of thug. See ya!" He dashed away…though Angel noted that he removed something from his phone and crushed it under his s hoe.

* * *

"This is all so weird!" Bren exclaimed later on. "Dax sold us out—what are we supposed to do now?!" he asked.

"I have an idea," said guy suddenly asked, coming up over some rocks and leaping into the little alcove they were hiding in. Jinja immediately shoved him, and tried punching him—though he caught it.

"You—you stinkin' traitorous—" She talked quickly in an attempt to find a good word. "I _hate _you!"

"Whoa, take it easy!" Dax pushed her away, and Angel restrained her.

"I am a man of peace," Beyal cut in, and Angel was thankful for the intervention …until he added, "So perhaps we should l et her tear him to pieces."

This time _he _lunged at Dax, until Chase cut in, saying, "Hey guys, hold on. I, uh…I have to t ell you guys something."

It clicked. "You _didn't_!" Jinja exclaimed.

Chase laughed before saying, "Oh yes we did!"

Jinja grabbed him by the shoulders and s hook him a few times. "Ugh! Now I hate _both _of you!"

Angel smirked evilly. _**"No you don't! Not Chase, anyway…"**_ she teased mentally.

Jinja froze, blushing a bit. _Sh-Shut it Featherbrain!_

Angel scowled. "Watch the insults," she said.

"Chill, Princess," Dax said.

"It was all a plan," Chase explained. "T hose STORM goons got worked!"

"Big time!" Dax agreed, grinning. "Chase and I figured we could use the fact that…well, that we aren't exactly BFFs to get something out of Charlemagne."

"She thought Dax was leading us into a trap, when really, it was the other way a round!"

"We figured out how to make the whole fight in the training-town work, so we'd t rash the place and still get out!"

"It would've gone wrong if you hadn't intervened, Jin," Chase said. Said girl blinked a few times before looking at her new Monsuno.

"Speaking of, what're you gonna call him ?" Angel asked.

"I was thinking Charger," Jinja replied. "I mean, did you see the way he rammed that Monsuno? It's perfect." Meanwhile, Chase and Dax were saying something.

"We faked her out of her coat, boots, _and_ her little whip!" Chase said happily.

"'Cause I'm an awesome actor!" Dax added . "Wait. Let me shorten that to I—am—awe some!"

"Maybe you're just so believable at playing traitor," Angel noted.

"That explains the net!" Bren exclaimed. "_You_ set it!"

"Yeah. I've been trapping things since I was five years old," Dax said. "Knew those STORM goons would head that way. Couldn't let them keep the cores."

"And we earned ourselves some Monsuno magic!" Chase said. Dax smirked before taking out two vials of Monsuno Essence.

"Okay…that's not a bad way of saying sorry," Jinja admitted.

"If you don't mind, Dax…_I'll_ hold onto those," Chase said, holding a hand out.

"Not so fast! I snagged these!" the Lowlander shot back.

"We _all_ snagged them! So why don't you give the m to Bren for safekeeping."

"Seriously? After all that? Where's the love, Chase? You still don't trust me."

"Uh, what's the word I'm looking for? No ? Yeah—no. But I'm working on it."

"Well…maybe we both have to work on it, then."

Chase nodded, and then both of them grinned like idiots. Angel shook her head in exasperation while the others all laughed.

* * *

**Myra: And that wraps up Arc I!**

**Angel: ...arc?**

**Myra: Yeah, I've officially divided the story into five arcs. Up next is the shortest one...consisting of the three episodes Jon Ace is with you guys.**

**Angel: Oh, okay.**

**Myra: Until next time...which hopefully shouldn't be long!**


	22. Arc II: Trust, Part I

"C'mon! Just keep running!" Chase urged as an explosion went off behind them. This one caused Bren to trip, however. Chase immediately ran back to help, and then they kept going.

"Can't you do something bird-girl?" Dax asked.

"THEY'RE ROBOTS! THEY DON'T HAVE MINDS!" she screamed back. _Who on earth keeps sending these robots after us…?_

Angel took off and flew ahead, leading them off. She zipped into the sky, doing twirls and loops to throw them off—and then she plunged into the undergrowth, panting. They zoomed overhead. _Phew…_

She flew back, and landed. "They're gone. Is one day off too much to ask?"

* * *

"Ooh…poor little Baby-Suno wants a vacation," Medea noted. "Run as far as your little legs can carry you…and wings in dear Angel's case. But you can never hide…" She laughed to herself. "Not from me…"

* * *

"B, can you check the maps on the Core-Tablet?" Chase asked. "See if there's a place to hide out and crash? I'm _so _fried…"

"Well…there's some kind of campsite a few miles up."

"Guess we're going camping," Angel said with a nod.

* * *

"Oh, I do _so_ love camping!" Medea exclaimed. "Do you think they'll make s'mores?"

"Mistress, why don't we just wipe them out?" Telegonus asked.

"Patience, my little wolf. You must learn to enjoy the hunt…savor the anticipation. Soon…very soon, we shall finish this hunt…DarkSpin style."

* * *

_"…see if there's a place to hide out and crash?"_ the recording went. Then it turned to static.

"Get it back!" Charlemagne snapped. "Get zhat signal back soldier—that's an order!"

"I—I'm trying, ma'am!" he replied hastily. "There's a safety mechanism on the program—we're blocked out. I need some time to break it."

"One minute. You have _one_ minute."

"There a problem?" Jon asked, coming into the room. "Can I help?"

"It's nothing, Commander Ace," Charlemagne replied without looking at him. "Go back to your station." Though as they got the single back, she thought of something. "On second thought, Jon…zhis _does _concern you. Your friends, Chase and Angel, have a spy in zheir group." Jon turned around. "Ve don't know who it is, however…"

"What makes you say that, ma'am?" the blond-haired man asked.

"One of them is working for DarkSpin, transmitting a signal to zhem as we speak."

"Huh. One way to go…" Trey muttered. "Work for the most ruthless mercs ever. It's only a matter of time now…"

"I suppose it was bound to happen," Jon mused. He knew what he had to do…but he'd get into some serious trouble for it.

As if she knew what he was thinking about, Charlemagne surprised him by saying, "I vill give you one day to attempt to sort things out yourself, if you can."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

* * *

"We need to get some rest," Chase said once they had settled in. "It's been two whole days since we slept because of those drone attacks. Let's just get some shut-eye until morning."

It seemed only ten minutes later that Angel heard something, and she looked up. _**"Guys…incoming."**_

They were immediately up. "Aw man…here we go again," Chase muttered, going out. "What is it, Ange?"

"Not drones," she immediately clarified. "I hear thoughts. And…" Her eyes widened. "It—it's Jon!"

"_Huh_?!" They waited for a few moments, and said guy entered their line of sight. "Mr. Ace, what are you doing here?" Chase asked.

"I came alone—I'm not here to fight. I'm here as a friend.

"In that uniform, there ain't no such thing," Dax said, preparing to spin out Boost.

In response, Jon took out an unfamiliar core—standard black-and-yellow, but with blue grips on it. He placed it on the ground. "Chase, Angel…I need to talk to you both."

The two exchanged glances before starting to follow. He led them up to a riverbank before saying, "Thank you for trusting me, you two."

"Did you hear from our father?" Chase asked immediately.

"Is he okay?" Angel followed up with. She knew the answer immediately.

Jon took a deep breath before saying, "No word yet. This isn't about Jeredy, though…it's about your friends." His tone turned solemn. "You have a spy in your group. They're on DarkSpin's payroll."

"Oh, so now you're gonna mess with our heads?' Chase asked. "Turn us against our friends?"

"Chase, stop. Right now, I'm the only one you both can trust. Come on…how do you think they keep finding you? How do you think _I _found you? This is a game neither of you can win by yourselves…but with me, you might have a chance."

"What are you saying?" Angel asked hesitantly.

"I'm saying it's time to leave your group, and team up with me. It's only a matter of time until one of you gets hurt—or worse, killed."

Angel flinched at that, a quick image flying across her mind—a girl with sun-streaked hair crouched, crying, over a man who looked weirdly wolfish…then it was gone.

It made her miss the last part of Jon's sentence. _Ange…what do you think we should do?_ Chase asked through his thoughts.

_**"I…I don't know. Jon's telling the truth…"**_

_Guess there's no avoiding it, then…_

"Okay…but give us a minute. We need to do this, alone."

* * *

Angel explained the plan quietly, leaving out the "spy" bit completely.

Dax sighed. "You both never learn."

"No, we're finally smartening up," Chase said. "This entire thing has been for me and Angel."

Angel followed up. "We dragged you all into it, and its gotten way too dangerous."

"What are you _talking _about?" Jinja exclaimed, a bit frantic…not visibly. "We're a team! We've always made it through before, and we can do it again, as long as we stick together!"

"I won't do it," Chase said with finality. "I can't risk your lives anymore! This road has only been for me and Angel."

"No one is ever truly on their own, Chase," Beyal said. Angel detected traces of sadness in his tone.

"Seriously? You're gonna leave me with this guy?" Bren asked, pointing at Dax. "What kind of friends are you?!"

_**"B, listen up,"**_ Angel said mentally. **_"Don't tell anyone, but…Jon says there's a spy in our group. Don't know who. And don't you dare do any research on it, or I'll kick you into the middle of next week myself!"_**

Bren stiffened a bit, and nodded ever so slightly. With that, the both of them left.

* * *

The next morning, the remaining four of Core-Tech were doing various things—Jinja was pacing back and forth, Beyal was meditating, Bren was doing something on the Core-Tablet, and Dax was practicing his core-spinning.

"I've figured out Ace's flight-path. I think I know which way they're heading!"

"Keep dreaming man, Sunos 1 and 2 are long-gone," Dax said, walking over.

"The only reason they're gone is 'cause of _you_!" Bren snapped uncharacteristically. "I mean, who are you, really? What do you want from us?!"

"Chill, mate! You're unraveling!"

"I always _hate _when I have to say this, but…" Jinja started. "Bren has a point. Why are you even here, Dax? You obviously don't have our backs, so why are you still here, _mate_?"

"He is here, because he is meant to be here," Beyal replied. "He is one of us—one of the six."

Bren facepalmed. "Oh! Here goes little monkfish and his crazy prophecies! If you haven't noticed, we're not six—we're four! Chase and Angel are gone!" Both Beyal and Jinja flinched ever so slightly at that. The glasses-wearing teen wasn't done there, however. "And if you had your eyes open, you'd see that Dax _isn't_ one of us, and neither are you!"

He then got into Dax's face. "There should only be four of us! And if you ask me, it should still be four of us—everything was going perfect until you two came along!"

"Don't tease me, man!" Dax spat.

"Oh, I'm not teasing!" He backed up.

"This is not good—not good at all!" Beyal exclaimed.

"Nightstone, launch!" Bren shouted, spinning the core out.

"Boost, launch!" Dax yelled in response, doing as such. The two cores collided in a flash of blue, and the Monsunos were immediately in combat. "Turbo Strike!" the Lowlander ordered. Boost ran towards Nightstone in a blur, knocking him over.

"Prism Beam!" Bren exclaimed, and Nightstone snarled before shooting a continuous beam out of his mouth. Boost dodged it, however, and Bren growled in frustration.

Dax did the same before turning to look at the other two. "Are you two just gonna stand back and watch, or are you going to help?"

"I think it is time we called a truce," Beyal said, attempting to be the peacemaker.

Meanwhile, Nightstone managed to pin Boost down. "C'mon monk-boy, pick a side! You're the one who got me in this mess, so you better step up and back me!"

Beyal was silent for a few moments before looking at Glowblade's core. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Glowblade, launch!"

The three-headed snake Monsuno immediately shot energy orbs at Nightstone—direct hit. In response, Nightstone shot an orb of plasmatic energy back at Glowblade, sending her back a few meters. Jinja glanced quickly at Bren before saying, "Quickforce, launch!"

The antelope-raven immediately sent a barrage of small orbs of energy at Boost, though she dodged it all easily. Then Quickforce jumped into the air, and flapped his wings hard—sending string-like energy down at Glowblade, constricting her.

Bren gawked at the ginger-haired girl, who responded by saying, "Where else do you think I'd be?"

* * *

"There they are…"Latinus said. "Six sitting ducks, all in a row."

"Now is the time, little ones," Medea said, standing. "It appears our prey is ready and waiting…"


	23. Arc II: Trust, Part II

"One of these days I'll teach you both how to fly this beauty," Jon said, although Angel didn't hear him say it—she heard him think it. That said, she noted that he glanced to the side through the window every two minutes to watch her fly for a bit, as she was outside of the Hopper.

"What did we do…?" Chase muttered. Angel flew around and gave him a questioning look, tapping the glass a bit.

Jon heard as well. "Don't worry—the Commandant's only _really_ scary when she's angry." Angel quirked an eyebrow at Jon for that one.

"Mr. Ace," Chase started. "Jon…I appreciate everything you're trying to do for Angel and I, but I—we've changed our minds. We can't leave them—we have to go back."

"Chase…think carefully about this. Once you turn back, I won't be able to protect you."

"They're my family, and Angel's too! They're all we have left…we gotta go back!"

Jon glanced at Chase, and Angel first thought he'd argue more…but instead he said, "It's your choice. But once I drop you off…well, I'm lucky Charlemagne let me come out here in the first place. It'll be as far as I can go."

* * *

The four battling turned when Medea suddenly dropped from a tree. "Who invited _them_?" Jinja asked irritably.

"Don't look at me," Dax said with a shrug. To Medea, he added, "Sorry, this is a private party."

"Dear boy," the mercenary purred as the rest of her crew dropped down. "Please…allow me to show you my invitation!" She took a red-and-green core out. "Toxiclaw, launch!"

The core collided with a rock, and a red Monsuno resembling a crab appeared. The other three were quick to follow up. Moonfire tried attacking Quickforce, but the said Monsuno immediately put up a shield. One of Toxiclaw's claws suddenly detached, slamming into Glowblade. "Children, play hard…for this is your last battle!" Medea exclaimed.

Nightstone snarled loudly at the opposing Monsunos. Moonfire, Spiderwolf, and Spikebat attempted a combined attack against Boost, but she simply dodged it.

Another blow from Toxiclaw shattered Quickforce's shield, allowing both he and Glowblade to be attacked. Glowblade was also down for the count, returning to her core.

And the others wouldn't last too long either…

Just when they thought it was over, however, when they heard two familiar voices:

"Lock, launch!" and "Evo, launch!" simultaneously.

The two cores collided together in a flash of light, and both Monsunos immediately went to the defense of their comrades—Lock slugged Toxiclaw, while Evo tackled Spikebat head-on.

* * *

Jon watched the fight below for a few moments before taking one of his cores out. Coming to a decision, he put it into a Strike-Launcher. "Seafox, launch!" he shouted. The core spun into the forest below, colliding with a tree.

The fox-porpoise hybrid materialized in a flash of golden-yellow, and roared loudly before leaping into the battle, clawing Spiderwolf in the face, sending him back into his core. Angel's eyes widened in surprise. _She's powerful!_ Seafox was mostly black, with yellow antennae-like things on her head. Her tail had a neon-yellow stripe going down it, ending in a curved blade. Not to mention, she had webbed paws, and yellow crystals on her ankles for some reason—Angel figured that, instead of most STORM Monsunos who had a type of metal as their element, she had a type of crystal—like the Core-Tech Monsunos.

Toxiclaw attempted to attack Lock again. "Lock, Inner Shine!" Chase said, and Lock did as such—blocked the attack before countering it with a powerful energy beam, sending him into a rock.

"Lightning Bash!" Angel ordered, and Evo did as such, ramming into Spikebat full-force, sending her right back into her core.

"Oh, happy days are here again—Baby Suno and Birdie…I've missed you both so very much."

"Took you both long enough!" Bren said.

"B, let's finish this thing!" Chase replied happily.

"Yo, monk-boy!" Dax called suddenly, holding something up. "New Monsuno—catch!" He threw the core. Beyal caught it.

Angel glanced up. Arachnablade, she told him.

Beyal nodded, before saying, "Arachnablade, launch!"

The Monsuno was a giant spider. No joke. Moonfire advanced speedily towards him, but he simply raised one of his front legs and slammed it onto Moonfire's claws, stopping him cold.

Then Arachnablade used another like a dagger, defeating him immediately. Angel was sure Argius said something, but didn't pursue the thought—likely a cuss.

He's cool! Angel told Beyal mentally. The white-haired teen merely nodded.

Now it was just Toxiclaw left. Lock rammed into him, and Evo swooped in to slash at his face with her talons.

Seafox stalked forward, silvery-yellow orbs of energy forming around her—then they shot out at Toxiclaw, latching on before detonating in bursts of electricity.

That stunned him long enough for Lock to slug him in the face, sending him right back to his core. Weirdly, Medea didn't look that upset. "Welcome back, Baby-Suno, Birdie!" she called. "Welcome back!" Then she and her crew leaped off a ledge, using their flight-suits to scram.

* * *

"I thought you both were gone!" Bren said. They were all glad Jon was giving them a lift to the nearest road in the Hopper.

"Nah, I knew they'd be back," Jinja said, winking at them. "Can't live without us."

"Sad but true," Chase and Angel said at the same time.

Once the others were out after they landed, Jon asked, "Are you both gonna be okay on your own?"

"We're not on our own, Jon," Chase started.

"They might be a bit rough on the edges, but they'll always have our backs," Angel finished.

* * *

Later on, they took some time to eat and rest in an abandoned barn. Beyal sighed. "Everything is again as it should be."

"Not quite," Chase said. "There's one last thing…"

Angel picked up. "Jon said there's a spy in our group—which is why those drones kept finding us."

Everyone stared at her and Chase in shock. "I know, I know…it's insane," Chase said. "But I don't think he's completely off—I have a feeling one of us is bugged."

Like clockwork, everyone turned to look at Dax. He put his hands up slightly in self-defense. "Blokes—blimey! I can't catch a break around here, can I?"

"We don't know which one of us has it on them," Angel explained "But we need to figure it out, and fast." She looked at Bren, who nodded and turned the Core-Tablet on.

Amazingly, Dax didn't have a tracker. Neither did Jinja. Beyal, however…had one right on his shoulder. His gray eyes widened in shock.

"Figures," Bren said knowingly. "That sniper must've planted it on you while we were back in the Lowlands! That's why he let you go!"

After a quick check, they found it on his cloak. Chase glared at it, saying, "Medea, I'm only gonna say this once. Mess with me or my friends, and you're gonna regret it!"

He then threw it on the ground, and Angel crushed it under her heel.

* * *

**Myra: As you read, a certain scene did not occur. There is a reason for that… **

**Beyal: What do you mean?**

**Myra: Sorry, not telling!**


	24. Arc II: Hunted, Part I

"Just stay _really_ quiet," Chase hissed to the others. They'd been tracked by a single Hopper, and when they'd hit some undergrowth by a clearing, they'd all dove in. Angel was worried that Beyal would give them away—they were in the Bangli Jungle, and…well, he stuck out like snow in a tropical rainforest, to put it simply.

Angel watched as the Hopper landed, and the side door opened…allowing Jon Ace to get out. He nodded at the pilot inside, and the Hopper took off.

She exchanged a shocked look with Chase, and they slowly came out. "What are you doing here, Mr. Ace?" Chase asked.

"I have some time off, so I want to investigate something in the meantime," he explained.

"You said you wouldn't be able to help us anymore," Angel said, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, things can change." He paused for a few moments before saying, "We should get out of here. Let's go."

"C'mon," Chase said to the others, and he and Angel started off—when Dax stopped them.

"Whoa! Listen lil' Suno, you don't really trust him, do you?"

"Actually…"

"…we do," Angel finished.

"Good enough for me," Bren said with a nod.

"And me," Beyal agreed.

* * *

As they were walking, Angel noted something. "Jon, where are your cores?"

He paused. "About that…the only condition of me taking time off is that I had to leave them behind."

"That explains a lot," Chase said thoughtfully.

They continued on…even Angel failing to notice that they were being watched.

"Poor birds, all lost and alone," their observer said to himself. "Oh, soon we shall spring our trap, and clip their lovely little wings. Isn't that right, pretty one?"

* * *

They had just pushed past some vines when Bren suddenly stopped, gaping. "What's wrong?" Angel asked, worried.

The resident geek said nothing in reply, instead pointing. "Whoa," Chase exclaimed quietly. "Tense—if it wasn't utterly and completely impossible, I'd say that this was meant to be a Monsuno." The object in question was a statue. It really did look like a Monsuno.

"A Monsuno statue in the middle of the Bangli Jungle, miles away from any form of civilization?" Jinja queried, sounding disbelieving. Which she was.

"I do not know this place…I cannot help," Beyal said quietly.

"This feels bad. Really bad," Bren said nervously.

"Bren, it's just a statue—nothing to worry about," Angel reassured. "Absolutely nothing at all." She paused, smile fading. "…probably."

"Over here!" Dax called suddenly. "I think I found something!" He ran into the undergrowth, and the others all followed quickly—

Only to skid to a halt near a ledge. It looked like there was a temple of some sort in the valley below. "If you didn't know anything about the statue, lil' monkfish, then you're gonna love not knowing anything about _that_," the Lowlander went on.

"I know nothing of this place. Nothing at all!" the gray-eyed teen exclaimed.

"Lost cities…ancient temples…there's a whole lot more to this 'Monsuno' thing than I think we know," Jinja said quietly.

"Jeredy knows," Jon said with certainty. "At least, he knows more than what he's told me, or put in the STORM reports."

"We oughta check it out," Chase said, clenching a fist. "It's just the kind of place my dad would hang out." Angel nodded in agreement.

"A creepy old dead temple?" Dax asked rhetorically. "I'd hate to see where your old man goes for vacation. A cemetery?"

Dax regarded the glares he got from the two Sunos. "Let's head for the center building," Angel said flatly, and they started off.

Before they could even go three yards, Bren tripped Dax. "That's for disrespecting Chase and Angel!" he said…and paused, noticing something. "What's that?"

Said item was a small, metal device that looked a bit like a cone in shape. Dax looked panicked for a heartbeat, and picked the object up, standing. "What's this? It's an NYBG."

"A _what_?"

"None of your business, Glasses!" He walked away.

Bren snorted. _That guy is just so rude._ Before he could follow, a spark caught his eye. "Huh?" he muttered, going close for a look.

He immediately regretted it.

* * *

"There he is!" Angel exclaimed.

"What's the hold-up?" Dax asked, coming into view.

"We thought we lost you. Where'd Bren go?" Chase asked.

The Lowlander gave an I-don't-know gesture, causing Jinja to get in his face and say, "C'mon Dax, don't you know by now not to leave Bren on his own?"

Angel was silent, focusing, while Chase called for their friend. "I'm not getting anything from him," the white-winged girl said, looking worried.

At Jon's puzzled look, she blinked, remembering. "Right, you don't know. Um, don't tell _anyone_, but…besides having wings, I'm a telepath too. Don't ask how, because it has to do with my mysterious forgotten past." She laughed somberly at this. Jon looked mystified, but didn't say anything in response.

"We're gonna have to find him," Chase said, disregarding the conversation.

"We can't," Jon said. "If we search for him in that thick jungle, it's possible to get lost in moments. And if we split up and look for him, it'd be worse."

"What's the big deal?" Dax asked. "He's got the Core-Tablet—he knows where we're going. If he's got any sense at all, he'd meet us there."

"That's the trouble," Jinja said. "Bren doesn't have any sense."

"Except for a sense of direction," Chase said. "Though…not as good as Angel's…" He shook his head. "Okay, let's hustle. If Bren's heading to the center temple, I don't wanna miss him."

* * *

They maneuvered around a crater of some sorts. On bad luck, Jinja slipped and fell. _Ouch…_ Dax paused and helped her up. "You're welcome, Princess," he said.

She glared and shoved him. "Weasel," she spat.

Dax, meanwhile, fell down into the crater, while she kept going. As soon as Dax stood up, however, he immediately had a red-and-black raptor-looking Monsuno in his face. He reacted on a hair-trigger, and grabbed Airswitch's core. "Wanna fight, ugly?" Right as he was about to spin him out, however, someone grabbed his arm and twisted it back. He struggled to get loose. "Take your nasty hands off me!" he spat.

"Why do you struggle, little bird?" the guy who had him asked. "There's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. So hush…it's time to sleep." Dax felt a painful shock run through him, and then everything went black.

The man chuckled. "Two little birds caught, pretty one," he said, stroking his Monsuno's snout. "A good day's hunt."

He froze when a girl's voice called "Dax?"

Jinja returned to the clearing with the crater. No one was there.

* * *

"I'm no detective, but this is _definitely_ not good," Chase muttered.  
"I can see _Bren_ getting lost…but Dax?" Jinja mused. "Something's not right about this."

"You can say that again," Angel agreed, looking around. She even went as far as to take wing and hover ten feet in the air for a better vantage point. "Not getting anything…"

Chase picked something up—a belt of some kind. "Not right at all," he said. "Look at this."

"These are certainly Monsuno tracks," Jon said, diverting their attention to some large imprints in the mud. "They got this way…and then, they just vanish."

"What do you know about this?" Jinja asked.

"I've made the same enemies you have for the time being. Whatever's coming after you…its hunting me as well."

"It feels like this thing is separating us from the flock one by one," Chase noted. "Its quiet, and its fast."

"And it knows its way around this stinking jungle!" Jinja put in. "We can't track it—we have no idea where it is!"

"But we know precisely where it _will_ be," Beyal said. Everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked, landing. "Where?"

"Wherever we are."

* * *

**Sorry for the wait. Like many people, my motivation and focus are down to zip on vacations. ~Myra**


	25. Arc II: Hunted, Part II

A scream woke Angel, and she, Chase, and Jon all jumped up, immediately wide-awake. The blond girl immediately noticed that Jinja and Beyal weren't there. _Where'd they go?!_

She and Chase ran down the path, looking around. Even with her super avian eyesight, Angel couldn't see a thing—just darkness.

"This way!" Jon called, and they ran down a narrow trail. They stopped at a clearing, which had a few broken trees. "Looks like they put up a good fight."

"But not good enough," Chase said grimly, shaking ever-so-slightly. "Otherwise they'd still be here." Even Angel could barely notice—he was very, very worried. He started running. "We have to save them!"

Jon went to stop him, but couldn't move fast enough—Angel resorted to giving her brother a firm mental message: _Stop!_ He immediately froze mid-stride, and turned to give Angel a reproachful look. She smiled in a way that said _sorry_.

"We _will_ save them, Chase. But we don't stand a chance in this thick jungle," Jon said. "We've got to lure it into the open and fight it there."

"The temple!" Chase exclaimed. "That's a perfect place—"

"—to make a stand!" Angel finished.

The STORM commander thought it over for a few moments before saying "Let's do it."

As they started running, Angel suddenly paused, looking around. **_"We're being watched,"_ **she told the other two mentally, who both nodded slowly—although Jon flinched at first.

Then they kept going.

* * *

"Little birds, little birds, fly away home," their pursuer sang quietly to himself. "We know where you've been, we know where you're going. Don't we, my pretty one?" He directed the last part at his Monsuno. "Here, pretty one…more friends to keep you company…" He put the taken cores on his core-holder. Then he tapped a button on his wrist communicator. "Four birds caged, four wings clipped," he reported. "Only two remain."

_"Plans have changed, Dom Pyro,"_ the person he was speaking to replied. _"I want Jon Ace as well. And I'm willing to pay whatever you ask."_

"Oh doctor, good doctor, you have already paid for six. The seventh, we will do just for the sport."

* * *

"Why a temple dedicated to Monsunos?" Angel asked. "I don't get it!"

"The Bangli Jungle is rich in Monsuno essence. It's possible Monsunos were alive here in ancient times…the locals may have worshipped them."

It didn't help Angel's confusion. _How did the Monsunos even exist without cores?!_

"They must've thought they were gods or something," Chase noted.

"Who knows _what_ they are. That's really a question for your father. If—"

"_When_," Angel automatically corrected. "We _will_ find him."

"First off, let's see who comes in after us,' Chase said, and they went into the building.

The building was dark. Jon had a gun ready, while Angel had her eyes and ears at work, as well as her mind-scanner. Chase kept the best watch he could.

They eventually got to a large, open shrine-looking room with plenty of decorated columns. A sudden, psychotic-sounding laugh made all of them look up. Angel glared. _How didn't I know he was there already?_

"So the cage doors slam shut, little birds," the man said in a crazy-sounding voice. Angel shuddered involuntarily at the word "cage."

Jon apparently knew him. "It's Dom Pyro…"

"You know this lunatic?" Chase asked.

"Unfortunately. I don't know who sent him, but whoever it is wants us gone…and wants it to _hurt_."

Angel probed Pyro's mind a bit, noting that he really was mentally unstable, before reporting Klipse.

Dom Pyro voiced said fact. "Chase, Angel, we've got to get out of here!" Jon shouted, aiming his gun at the lunatic, who was approaching slowly, holding a taser.

"Oh, don't be scared. When we catch you, we promise you'll never feel fear again." He laughed.

"Dom Pyro. It's over," Jon said, charging the gun.

"Oh no, no, no! We don't like guns…and we knew you'd bring one." He pressed a button on a small device—and Angel realized what it was a moment too late.

Two devices set on two of the pillars suddenly shot electricity at Jon, shocking him painfully. "Hey Sparky!" Chase called immediately. "How do you feel about Monsunos?"

"We love them," Dom Pyro responded simply. "Yes we do…" Angel noted that he had the others' cores, and she growled. "Come little birds—let us end this dance to a pleasant happy tune!" He spun his Monsuno out: "Dragonburn, launch!"

Chase responded instantly: "Lock, launch!"

Angel followed up: "Evo, launch!"

Dragonburn proceeded to breathe fire at the two Monsunos. Evo flew up, while Chase said, "Lock, Power Charge!" The polar-bear Monsuno promptly swatted the flames aside like they were nothing.

Dragonburn then lunged at Evo suddenly, who weaved to the side. The Eklipse Monsuno was then brutally slugged by Lock into a pillar. The raptor-like Monsuno swung its tail at Lock, who stopped the attack.

"Now Dom Pyro, let us show _you_ what it's like to be hunted!" Angel said loudly. "Evo, Lightning Bash!" Her swan-eagle hybrid glew a bright blue, and flew around to strike.

Simultaneously Chase ordered, "Lock, Grappling Blast!" His attack missed—instead it demolished a pillar. And before Evo could hit, Dragonburn dodged to the side—and the pillar fell on both Core-Tech Monsunos. Angel gasped in shock as Evo reverted to blue essence and returned to her core.

Dragonburn knocked another pillar down, but Lock managed to get out of the way in time.

Dom Pyro laughed shortly. "Now you have the stone Monsunos to fight as well! When this battle is over, little birds, I shall clip your wings oh…so…slowly."

Angel's eyes widened instinctively, folding her wings even tighter against her back. "Not if I can help it!" Chase shot back, seeing his sister's fear.

Dragonburn pushed another pillar over—this one fell on Lock. Angel happened to notice—the ceiling the pillars were holding up was starting to look…unstable. Chase, the dome, she said mentally. **_"I think we just found our way out of this!"_**

"Do it!" Dom Pyro said to his Monsuno. "Crush him, my pretty-pretty!" The red Monsuno obeyed her master's command without hesitation, and again, the pillar fell on Lock.

Before Chase or Angel could realize it, they had both been grabbed by the backs of their jackets by the crazy man. "How does it feel, to hear the cages click shut? To know you have been caught?"

"We were about to ask…" Angel started.

"…the same thing!" Chase finished. Amazingly the guy looked put-off at their syncing. Chase grabbed the core-holder, while Angel kicked the guy hard. She heard something crack, likely a rib.

"Lock, take the column down!" Chase ordered once they were safely at the edge of the clearing. The Monsuno did as such.

After standing, though wheezing for breath, Dom Pyro looked startled before saying, "Clever little birds! Oh so clever!"

The temple was collapsing. Lock held the last pillar up, allowing Angel to help Jon up. "Lock, return!" Chase said, and his Monsuno complied. The pillar immediately fell, and they got out just in time.

"Nice work, kids," Jon said.

"We had help," Chase said simply.

"Now let's find our friends," Angel finished.

* * *

They did find them, the next morning, tied to a statue. "Where's Mr. Creepy?" Jinja asked.

"Buried," Chase reported, grinning.

"Under about a thousand tons of temple!" Angel finished.

"Our cores…" Bren said quietly.

"…are right here," Chase put in, holding up the core-holder taken from Dom Pyro. "Although they make such a nice necklace—I was thinking about keeping them for myself!"

"Stylish," Jinja remarked in a sarcastic manner.

"Alright, grab your cores and let's get out of here! I've had enough jungle to last me a lifetime!"

But it couldn't end there, now could it?

No sooner did the others reclaim their cores did the brain-seizure strike yet again. Both Chase and Angel immediately dropped, unable to process any outside information at the moment.

"Chase?" Jon asked worriedly, his voice cutting through the waves of agony. "Angel?"

In all due truth, had Angel been standing on a cliff at that moment, nothing could have stopped her from jumping off—with her wings tucked _in_.

In her mind, random images flickered—and in Chase's as well, she could tell. They both heard worried voices from all four of the others, but couldn't reply themselves.

When it finally ended…well, it hadn't exactly ended. **_Hello, Angel._** a voice said.

Both looked around. No one else in sight…and the others apparently hadn't noticed. **_I've been waiting a long time to speak with you,_** the voice went on.

"Who are you?" Angel asked.

"_Who_?" Bren asked in turn, sounding confused.

Chase, meanwhile, looked a bit freaked-out. "Alright…I think I'm losing it," he said.

"Why is that?" Beyal asked.

"Well…I'm hearing a voice in my head…"

"So am I!" Angel exclaimed. She paused. _Somehow…this all seems familiar…_


	26. Arc II: Shadow, Part I

"So, why are we out here Jon? Really?" Angel asked.

The commander sighed, and they all stopped. "I suppose I should fill you in now. You see, when your father and Dr. Klipse still worked for STORM, they uncovered meteor fragments infused with Monsuno essence buried deep within the earth. They calculated that the Monsuno essence first arrived on the planet when a giant meteor crashed sixty-five-million years ago."

"Why does that date sound so familiar?" Bren asked.

"Because that's when the dinosaurs became extinct!" Jinja clarified.

"Yeah, okay, but that doesn't mean the Monsunos had anything to do with it!" Chase defended.

"I'm not willing the gamble the future of this planet either way," Jon said. "The Monsuno essence _must_ be destroyed."

"You aren't talking about _all_ of it, are you?" Angel asked. "Even Evo?"

"And Lock?" Chase added.

"No, I cannot see it, Mr. Ace," Beyal put in. "Destiny has other plans for you and your Monsunos, Chase and Angel."

"Sorry, but that's a bunch of nonsense," Jon said. "This _bond_ you think you all share with your Monsunos is nothing more than an illusion. They're dangerous—even your father began to realize that."

**_I don't think that's true either,_** the Voice cut in, causing both Chase and Angel to wince slightly. At least it wasn't a grenade-type headache anymore. Due to that, Angel missed Dax mutter something.

"What did you mean by that?" Jinja asked. Silence. "C'mon, you're hiding something." Still no response. "What, now _you're _not talking to me?"

"Ever notice how the females of the species can't resist those strong, silent types?" Bren remarked. To Angel's puzzlement, Beyal had a thoughtful look on his face.

"By the way, you missed the point of the question," Chase said. "_Where_ are we going?"

"The mining operation where I worked with your father and Dr. Klipse. It's not far from here."

"What do you think we'll find there?" Angel asked.

"Hopefully a clue to your father's whereabouts."

"And nothing else?" she went on, eyes narrowing. He wasn't saying all of it. And he didn't reply.

* * *

They looked the building over—Chase and Jon with binoculars, and Angel with naught but her eyes. "Dr. Klipse may not work here anymore, but his tin-cans still do," Chase remarked.

"Not a problem," Jon said, standing. "I know this facility like the back of my hand…" He kicked a small rock, and a hatch opened in the ground. "Or foot, as the case may be."

There was a ladder leading down, so they went in. Dax jumped off of the ladder at one point, getting a perfect landing. Beyal watched, and attempted to do the same—only to fall over. Angel facepalmed. _Great…_

Jon looked at a small device. "I'm picking up weird levels of Monsuno energy…I've never seen readings this high before. I don't even know what that means."

"My dad may be the scientist in the family," Chase started, "But I suspect it's something really _not_ good."

"Roger that." Jon pointed at one hall. "Control room's down there—good place to access the main database."

Bren gave a half-grin. "Sounds like a job for my techno-mojo," he said.

"Jin, Beyal, Dax, you all stay here for lookout. If that database has anything on my and Ange's dad…" Chase started.

"…_we're_ gonna be the first to see it!" Angel finished.

Jon handed earpiece communicators out to everyone. "Stay in touch with these."

They started down one tunnel…only to see Jon going down another. "Wait, where are you going?" Angel asked, suspicious.

"I'm going to track the source of this Monsuno energy."

"Anyone else getting the impression that there's something he's not telling us?" Jinja asked.

* * *

"How long is this tunnel?" Chase asked no one in particular.

"No clue," Bren replied.

Angel was silent, thinking things over. _Jon's not telling us something…and he's purposely keeping it out-of-mind. Maybe I _shouldn't_ have told him I could read minds…_

**_Your own actions determine your fate, Angel,_** the Voice said.

"Not you," she complained, earning a look from Bren.

Chase, meanwhile, froze—he obviously heard his too. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

No response came. Both Sunos huffed, while Bren just looked back and forth between them, realizing he was going to have to get used to it.

* * *

They eventually found the main database. It didn't take long for Bren to hack in. A few minutes in, they heard Jinja's voice on the communicator: _"Chase, Ange, its Jin—I've got a bad feeling here. I don't trust Jon Ace. And now Beyal's acting strange—well, strang_er _than usual."_

"Hang tight, Jin," Chase replied. "We're still looking through the files. Bren's looking for anything on my dad, but it's gonna take a while."

Dax's voice cut in. _"Guess what, Little Suno? Time is in very short supply. And we've got an excess of company."_

_"__Eklipse Drones!" _Jinja put in.

* * *

_"__Do me a favor—can you guys stall 'em a little longer?"_ Angel asked.

The drones fired, and the two—as Beyal, after having a vision, ran off after Jon Ace—barely were able to dodge. "No," Jinja muttered. "But we know who can."

Both she and Dax took a core out. After dodging another blast, both Quickforce and Airswitch were spun out. Quickforce blocked lasers from a few drones—then shot energy orbs at them mercilessly. Airswitch, meanwhile, threw two drones into a larger group.

"You know, I almost feel sorry for the walking toasters," Jinja said. She and Dax barely ducked in time to avoid another shot. "But I can get over it."

* * *

"Security drone sensors are picking up an _unusual _amount of activity, sir," Hargrave reported. "_Monsuno_ activity."

* * *

The door opened, and Jon looked in. It was a vacant laboratory room, the dominant feature being a green-glowing meteorite inside of a glass case of sorts.

He went up to it. _I don't know what you've started here, Klipse…but I promise—you won't finish it._

* * *

"This file looks promising," Bren said.

"Did you dig up something on our dad?" Chase asked.

"Not really," Angel muttered, reading her friend's mind.

Bren glanced at her before adding, "I think I just found out what Klipse is up to in that old mine! Something called 'Operation Shadow-Effect.' From what I can tell, Klipse is trying to make more powerful Monsuno Essence by accelerating the natural infusion process!"

"So Klipse can have an even-deadlier Monsuno at his control," Chase summed up. "That can't be good."

"Ditto to that," Angel agreed. "If Klipse is re-creating what wiped out the dinosaurs…"

"What'll that do to us?" Bren finished.

"We need to evacuate," Chase said firmly. "Now."

"Not until I download the database," Bren said. "There's gotta be _something_ in here that can prevent the big bang."

* * *

**Myra: *sheepishly smiles* Uh, sorry for the wait. And that it's so short.**

**Angel: *mutturs* About time.**

**Myra: *clears throat* Ahem. I have high-school finals coming up, so I have those to worry about. My parents will ground me forever if I don't pass. I also have to deal with events in season-2 that screw with a few things...such as Quickforce's untimely death. I don't know how I'm gonna write that...suggestions are welcome.**


	27. Arc II: Shadow, Part II

"Nice work, guys," Dax commented after the drones were all smashed.

Then a familiar voice said, "I find it extremely rude when company drops in unannounced." It was Klipse, accompanied by Hargrave. "Fortunately, I brought my own welcoming committee." Said welcoming-committee was Backslash and Shadowhornet.

"Bring it on, Klipse!" Dax yelled.

"Quickforce, Light Barrage!" Jinja ordered. Her Monsuno began running towards Backslash.

"Backslash, Fearsome Flex!" Klipse yelled in counter. A red aura surrounded the bear-wolf, and it stopped Quickforce by grabbing him by the horns. "It's time we teach you impertinent brats some manners."

"Impertinent on _this_, Klipse!" Dax shouted. "Airswitch, Sonic Screech!" His Monsuno complied. Shadowhornet countered with an attack of his own, and the two flying Monsunos lunged at each other.

"One more time, Quickforce!" Jinja said. "Light Barrage!" This time Backslash countered by clawing Quickforce over the face.

* * *

Jon set the bomb, and stepped back. A voice said, "Wrong move, bandito."

The STORM commander chuckled. "Sorry kid, but you just can't pull off the tough-guy thing."

"Then perhaps I should do something…of _my own_ thing." Beyal moved in a blur, dashing close and then doing a flip to get away.

"And what was that supposed to accomplish?" Jon asked.

In response Beyal tossed the detonator up and down. Upon seeing that, Jon looked—and saw that he wasn't holding it anymore.

* * *

Airswitch shot an orb of energy at Shadowhornet—who retaliated by sending out shockwaves which hit. The vulture-hawk fell to the ground—it was on its last bit of health now.

"This is _not_ going well," Jinja stated in a worried tone.

"Tell me something I _don't _already know, Princess," Dax said.

"Now, perhaps you'd care to tell me where your friends Chase and Angel Suno are?" Klipse asked.

"They would…" a female voice said.

"But that'd just ruin our really cool entrance!" another, male voice followed up—Chase and Angel.

"Ta-dah!" Angel proclaimed, throwing an arm up and barely suppressing the urge to flutter her wings a bit.

"Now that we're all here…" (Chase)

"How about a little rematch?" (Both)

They both threw their cores (Lock and Evo) into the air, before jumping and spinning them out. The cores eventually collided with a wall, and both Monsunos appeared, letting out battle cries.

"Shadowhornet, Evil Extension!" Hargrave ordered. The red Monsuno's claws extended, and wrapped around Evo's wings—but Evo took him for a not-so-fun ride.

Backslash started charging towards Lock. "Lock, Inner Shine!" Chase ordered. The shield went up, and Backslash tried in vain to attack it.

Quickforce took advantage of the distraction and slammed into the wolf-bear. "Shock Wing!" Angel shouted, and Evo shot beams of energy from the crystals on her wings, which hit Backslash hard.

* * *

"Give me that detonator," Jon said firmly. "The Monsuno Essence is dangerous!"

"Perhaps. But my vision suggests that destroying that meteor will pose an even greater danger," Beyal countered.

"I don't have time for your mystic babbling," Jon growled, taking out a taser. He attempted to hit Beyal with it, but the white-haired teen dodged…and Jon hit the computer instead, which began sparking a lot. "This is not what I had in mind!" the commander exclaimed. "It's gonna overload!"

Due to the energy spike, the meteor glew a bright white, and the glass shattered—as the meteor let out a strange energy-signal…

* * *

…while in the battle, the Monsunos all gleamed brightly before _changing color_—as if someone had grayscaled them. They still had their blue/red markings…but the obviously-wrong thing with the Core-Tech Monsunos was that their eyes were red now. The cores also turned gray-and-red.

"What the krag was that?" Chase asked.

"Um…" Angel started, eyes widening. "Something's really wrong here."

"The Shadow-Effect," Klipse muttered. "Now we shall witness the true power of the Monsunos."

As the four of Core-Tech watched, their Monsunos turned their heads and looked at their controllers in a very scary way.

Quickforce suddenly charged—at Jinja. She barely got out of the way in time, and it took Angel's mental urging. "Quickforce, stop!" the ginger-haired girl exclaimed.

Airswitch flew at Dax, who ducked just in time. "Airswitch, back off!"

Angel was forced to take flight—she noted that neither Klipse nor Hargrave were surprised at all, which meant they _knew_—and she was doing her best to outmaneuver her own Monsuno. It was a good thing she was smaller. "Evo, what is the_ matter _with you?" she asked.

"Lock—what's wrong, big guy?" Chase asked. He jumped out of the way of an attack that would've crushed him.

"Curious," Klipse mused. "It would appear that the Shadow-Effect not only makes the Monsunos more powerful, but also blindly aggressive towards even their own controllers."

"Shouldn't our own Monsunos be likewise affected?" Hargrave asked in a forcibly-calm tone. As if on cue, Shadowhornet flew at them. Hargrave's mech-pack's "arms" somehow deflected the Monsuno's attacks.

Backslash leaped at his controller. "Backslash, _return_! I order you!" Klipse yelled—it got him nowhere except getting knocked into a wall.

* * *

Jon frantically pressed a few keys. No dice. "Control panel's fried," he exclaimed. "I'll have to do a manual shutdown." Jon glanced up. "I might not be able to keep this rock from going supernova, but I can try to contain the blast." The commander turned to look at Beyal. "More importantly, I can give you time to escape. Now warn the others and _go_!"

"But, you cannot possibly survive such an explosion!" Beyal exclaimed.

The blond-haired man was silent. Then he said, "I know." He moved in a blur—picked Beyal up and threw him out of the room, sealing the door.

Beyal stared, eyes wide, for a few moments…then, biting his lip and swallowing hard, ran.

* * *

The four of them managed to hide in a small tunnel, while Quickforce, Airswitch, and Evo tried getting at them. "If we go down…we go down fighting," Jinja said solemnly.

"Nice knowin' ya, Princess," Dax muttered…right as Airswitch, and Quickforce automatically returned to their cores. Said cores immediately returned to their normal colorings. That only left room for Lock to start trying to get at them.

-Automatic retrieval,- Angel stated mentally. Vocally she added, "So all we have to do is wait for those two to time out."

"I'd say…another five minutes," Jinja added.

Then they heard Bren's voice over the communicator. _"Um, hate to spoil the party guys, but I just got a warning from Jon Ace: this place is gonna blow sky-high in two minutes!"_

"Tell Ace his timing stinks!" Dax said.

"We have to get out _now_!" Jinja said in a worried tone.

"You two go," Chase said. "I'm not leaving Lock!"

"And I'm not leaving Evo! No way in heck!" Angel added.

"I know you share a bond, but this going way too far," Jinja tried reasoning.

Something clicked in both their heads. -A bond…- Angel mused mentally to Chase. -That's it!-

She closed her eyes and concentrated—she had no idea what Chase was doing, since she was totally focused on trying to speak to Evo. Evo, listen to me, she said to her Monsuno. -Remember our connection!- In her hand, Evo's core began glowing and vibrating ever so slightly. -Resist the Shadow-Effect! Remember your controller! Remember _Angel_!-

She dimly heard the Monsunos stop trying to get in…and when she opened one eye, she saw that their colorings had returned to normal, as had the cores' colorings.

"Chase, Angel, you did it!" Jinja cheered.

Then they heard a dim explosion, making them jump. _"Times up—everyone out, _now_!"_ they heard Jon yell over the communicator.

Hurriedly Angel called Evo back into her core, while Lock picked them up and began running. They found Bren along the way, which was good—then Angel made note of something. "Wait—where's Beyal?!" The others looked worried immediately.

"Beyal? Where are you? We need to evacuate, _now_!" Chase shouted into the communicator. No response came.

They got outside of the building—right as the actual explosion happened, actually knocking Lock forwards and sending the others flying.

* * *

They met up again at the stolen H-Tram. "Beyal…where is he?" Angel whispered. She knew that the others were thinking the worst…

Then they heard the monk ask, "Why does everyone appear so sad?"

They looked—immediate cheer-up, as he was fine. The bird-girl acted impulsively—she ran up, hugged him, actually picking him up and spinning him. "Beyal, you're alright!" she exclaimed happily. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Women," Bren muttered. "We'll never understand 'em. Not you, not me…nobody." He was promptly smacked over the head by Jinja. "Ow!"

"I grew up in a monastery," Beyal said. "What is your excuse?"

Chase was the only one who hadn't said anything. "I—I can't reach Jon Ace on the comm-link," he said, worry in his tone.

"He chose his own destiny," Beyal said sadly. "He sacrificed himself to save us all."

The meaning of his words took a few moments to sink in. "Wha'…?" His voice was thick with sheer disbelief. Angel picked up.

"Th-that's…no, just—no!" Both of them were tearing up. "He can't be!" It was all the bird-girl could do but to say that over and over again.

"Sorry," Bren said quietly.

"Yeah…bad news all around," Dax muttered in agreement, sounding sympathetic. "But we gotta go, banditos. We gotta keep movin'."

"Maybe Jon was right after all," Chase said suddenly, though his voice was wavering. "Maybe the Monsuno Essence really is dangerous."

"You were right as well, Chase Suno," Beyal said. "The bond we share with our Monsunos…"

Angel didn't hear the rest of it, and neither did Chase…well, from Beyal anyhow, as the Voice had picked up on it. **_The bond you share with the Monsunos is there,_** the Voice said. **_You know that._**

"Maybe," Chase murmured. A few moments of silence. Then he said, "Lock, return," in a sullen tone. Lock did as such.

Angel was silent, meanwhile. She had looked through Beyal's memories…what Jon had done…it really happened. He was really gone.

She shook her head. _Can't worry about that now. Dax's right…we need to keep going. No matter what happens…we need to keep moving on._


	28. AN MUST READ

**Heads-up: I'm resetting my poll again...due to the fact that I realized I'm going to ****_have _****to introduce two OCs, what with how season-2 is going. The first will be included in the poll, who is codenamed "Daemon" (pronounced like Damon), and is in the Strike Squad. I might try putting a chibified version of him on my DeviantArt.**

**As for the other OC...well, she's a clone of Angel who was created along with Six. Name suggestions for her are welcome.**

**~Myra**


	29. AN 2

**I'm going to be blunt here. If you people don't like the story, then DON'T F*CKING READ IT! If I get one more nasty review, I"m just going to discontinue all of my stories right then and there. Got it? My life's bad enough right now already! ~Myra**


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